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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera

Sheikh Hasina: Once Bangladesh’s democracy icon, now its ‘authoritarian’ PM

An officer puts an ink mark on the thumb of Sheikh Hasina during Sunday's general election, in Dhaka [Handout provided by Prime Minister's office/Reuters]

Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina once joined her rivals in a fight to restore democracy but her long reign in power has been marked by arrests of opposition leaders, crackdowns on free speech and suppression of dissent.

Hasina, 76, won a fourth straight term and fifth overall in power by sweeping Sunday’s general election, which was boycotted by the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for the second time in the last three polls.

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