NEW DELHI, Jan. 24 -- Former Bangladesh leader Sheikh Hasina on Friday claimed that next month's elections would neither be free nor fair, in her first public address since being sentenced to death in absentia for crimes against humanity.

Bangladesh, home to 170 million people, is scheduled to hold elections on February 12 to choose a new government after a period of political turmoil following Hasina's ouster in August 2024. The 78-year-old Hasina fled to India after a student-led uprising ended her 15-year rule, which critics described as autocratic, and she has not been seen publicly since.

In an audio message broadcast from New Delhi, Hasina warned that "Bangladesh stands today at the edge of an abyss, a nation battered and bleeding...