NEW DELHI (AP) — Ousted former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday that she plans to return to her country from exile in India in December despite facing a death sentence in Bangladesh over a bloody crackdown on protesters in 2024.
In an audio address to an event in New Delhi marking the second anniversary of the uprising that toppled her government, Hasina said it was her duty to her people to return voluntarily despite her conviction in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity.
Hasina fled to India in 2024 after student-led protests forced her from power, and she has remained in exile there ever since.
In 2025, a Bangladeshi court sentenced her to death on charges of crimes against humanity for ordering a crackdown on the uprising. The United Nations in a report said nearly 1,400 people were killed in the crackdown. Hasina denies any wrongdoing.
Bangladesh has repeatedly sought Hasina’s extradition, but India has so far declined to hand her over.
“I know that they may put me in jail, or they may kill me, or anything may happen, but still I have to go back,” Hasina said during her address. “Fear cannot decide my duty to the people.”
She also called for the ban on her Awami League party to be lifted and for political prisoners to be released.
Also on Wednesday, Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurated a memorial museum dedicated to the 2024 uprising. The July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum is housed in Hasina’s former official residence in the capital, Dhaka.
The project was launched by the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who took office on Aug. 8, 2024, three days after Hasina’s ouster. Yunus joined Rahman at the museum’s inauguration.
The museum features audio and video exhibits on the uprising, as well as personal belongings of those killed and newspaper clippings from the time. It also documents alleged political repression during Hasina’s 15 years in power.
Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Hasina’s archrival, came to power with a landslide victory in February under a vote overseen by Yunus’ interim administration. Hasina's Awami League was barred from participating.
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Alam reported from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's Prime Minister Tarique Rahman looks at an exhibit at the inauguration of a museum which will serve as a memorial for those killed during the mass uprisings in July 2024, at the former residence of Bangladesh's ousted leader Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)
FILE - Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrives to attend The Queen's Dinner during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) at Buckingham Palace in London on April 19, 2018. (Daniel Leal-Olivas/Pool Photo via AP, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Embattled North Carolina Republican congressman Chuck Edwards withdrew from his reelection campaign on Wednesday, two days after the House Ethics Committee recommended he be censured for unprofessional and inappropriate conduct toward two young female aides in his office.
The 65-year-old Edwards, who is serving his second term, said that he made the decision to drop his reelection bid after “much prayer and reflection” and that he would complete the current term.
The Ethics Committee recommended the censure, an act registering its deep disapproval of a lawmaker’s conduct that does not meet the threshold for expulsion, on Monday. The panel highlighted numerous examples of actions it considered improper, including Edwards providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, and sending notes regarding his affection.
Edwards denied that any of his conduct was intended as a sexual or romantic advance, but the committee said his behavior would “lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such.”
“Serving Western North Carolina has been the honor of my life,” Edwards said in a post on X. “Thank you for your trust, prayers, and support. God bless WNC and America.”
North Carolina Republican Sen. Ted Budd said Edwards "did the right thing by withdrawing from the race.”
In a statement, the senator said the congressman has been “a fighter for the people of Western North Carolina as they work to recover from the impacts of Hurricane Helene, and I know he’ll continue to advocate for disaster funding for the remainder of his time in D.C.”
Budd’s spokesman, Christian McMullen, said the senator found the House Ethics Committee's report on Edwards “deeply concerning" and believed the congressman already faced a significant uphill battle trailing in the polls even before the report's publication. He declined to say whether the senator asked his colleague to step aside, saying the senator does not discuss private conversations.
The Ethic Committee described Edwards' actions as “beyond inappropriate” but said it found no evidence that he explicitly propositioned any person under his employ or engaged in any sexual activity with them.
In a response to the Ethics Committee's report, Edwards’ attorneys argued that the committee’s findings “exonerate” the congressman. His attorneys said the recommendation of censure was an “extraordinarily harsh and infrequent punishment” based on vague standards and adherence to the spirit of House rules, “not based on a direct violation of House rules addressing sexual misconduct.”
State law requires Edwards to put his intent to withdraw in writing and submit it to the state Board of Elections before ballots are mailed to overseas voters and the military. The Republican executive committee in Edwards' district will name a replacement.
FILE - Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., listens to testimony as the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight holds a field hearing on violent crime in Charlotte, N.C., Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond, File)
