Sheikh Hasina Seeks Passport as Bangladesh Demands Extradition and Prosecutor Warns Execution

Sheikh Hasina's request for travel documents has brought her promised homecoming into direct conflict with Bangladesh's demand for extradition. She has been living in India for two years and has pledged to return in December, according to Al Jazeera.

The stakes go beyond permission to travel. A Bangladeshi court sentenced her to death in November last year for ordering a deadly crackdown on protesters in 2024, Business Line reported. The outlet said the UN estimates that as many as 1,400 people were killed.

On November 8, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman said Dhaka had formally requested Hasina's repatriation under the India-Bangladesh extradition treaty and would follow due legal process, according to Business Line.

On November 9, reports disclosed her request for a new passport and national identity card. Business Line reported that she had written to the embassy in Delhi, citing rights under Bangladeshi and international law.

Her lawyers at London-based Matrix Chambers submitted the letter to Preeti Rahman, acting high commissioner at Bangladesh's embassy in New Delhi, according to India News.

Bangladesh's response focused on extradition rather than facilitating voluntary travel. On November 9, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kabir said any return must be addressed through India under the extradition treaty, Times now reported. The Hindu separately reported that the Foreign Ministry was examining the passport request.

On November 10, the prosecutor who secured Hasina's death sentence said she would be executed if she returned home, according to dawn.com. That warning made the immediate legal risk of her proposed return explicit.

The reporting does not establish that Hasina has received new documents or that a return has been arranged. The Hindu describes her request as under examination, while News18 reported that Humayun Kabir said there was no question of issuing her a passport. Those accounts leave a distinction between the ministry's review and the minister's public position.

Her political ambitions also face a separate obstacle. The Hindu reported that she wants to return as a political leader and reclaim the Awami League. The party has been banned, and many colleagues are jailed or living in exile, according to NDTV.

The immediate pending issues are the Foreign Ministry's decision on the documents and the handling of Bangladesh's extradition request to India. The supplied coverage establishes that Dhaka has made the request, not that a handover has been agreed.

Hasina's December pledge is the next stated milestone, according to Al Jazeera. Whether she can obtain documents, and whether any return takes place voluntarily or through extradition, remain unresolved.