Fugitive ex-PM alleges BD poll fraud

NEW DELHI:

Bangladesh's fugitive former leader Sheikh Hasina alleged Friday that elections next month would not be free or fair, in her first public speech since being sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity.

The South Asian nation of 170 million people votes on February 12 to choose new leadership after prolonged political turmoil following the overthrow of Hasina's autocratic government.

Hasina, 78, fled to neighbouring India in August 2024 after a student-led uprising ended her 15-year, iron-fisted rule, and has not been seen in public since.

Her speech is likely to further aggravate ties between New Delhi and Dhaka, which have soured since her ouster.

"Bangladesh stands today at the edge of an abyss, a nation battered and bleeding," Hasina said in English during an audio message broadcast to a packed press club in the Indian capital.

"Democracy is now in exile," she said.

In November, Hasina was found guilty by a Dhaka court of incitement, order to kill and inaction to prevent atrocities, and sentenced to be hanged.