Sheikh Hasina, the deposed Bangladesh prime minister, has sent out an audio message ahead of the International Crime Tribunal’s verdict in Dhaka against her due Monday.

“Allah gave this life, Allah will take it away,” Hasina, who has been living in exile in India since leaving Dhaka, was heard saying in the audio.

“I am alive. I will remain alive. I will resume work on improving people’s lives. I will give justice to the land of Bangladesh,” the former prime minister said.

Last year in August, Hasina had to flee Dhaka after the onslaught by a students-led protest movement that started against a reservation policy and snowballed into a full-fledged rebellion against Hasina and her Awami League government.

Hasina is accused of giving orders to open fire on protesting students. Over 1,000 people were estimated to have been killed during those turbulent days that plunged Bangladesh into unrest.

An interim government led by economist Mohammad Yunus has struggled to keep peace in Bangladesh.

The prosecution has said, according to Dhaka daily The Daily Star, that following a news briefing by Hasina on 14 July last year, the former home minister Asaduzzaman and former IGP Mamun and other high-ranking officials abetted, assisted and were complicit in the severe and systematic attack on the students.

The Daily Star said the prosecution asserted that this act was carried out knowingly under the defendants’ orders, incitement, abetment, facilitation, complicity and conspiracy, constituting crimes against humanity, including other inhumane acts such as torture and murder.

In the events following last year’s rebellion, the ancestral home of Bangladesh’s first PM and Hasina’s father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were destroyed, Awami League and its frontal organisations banned by the interim government and thousands of Awami League leaders, supporters and sympathisers killed or jailed.

“The Constitution of Bangladesh says overthrowing an elected public representative is a crime. Yunus is guilty of that crime. He is the one who deserves punishment. He ordered the killings,” Hasina said.

“They accuse me of crimes against humanity. I gave refuge to 10 lakh Rohingyas. Was that a crime against humanity? They are shutting the doors on victims of violence. What kind of humanity is that?”

The trial concluded on 23 October this year. Bangladesh, which has been without an elected government since Hasina’s departure, will go to polls next February.

"Today, the number of unemployed people is increasing,” Hasina said in the audio message. “There is no income. There is no production in the country. Industries are closing down. Banks are being looted. We have to free Bangladesh from this situation. Everyone, please stay well. Jai Bangla, Jai Bangla, Bangladesh.”