Bangladesh has formally requested India to extradite ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina for “judicial process”, nearly five months after she fled to New Delhi during a bloody anti-government protest.
Ms Hasina has been living in New Delhi, close to the Indian parliament, for months after fleeing in haste by helicopter as thousands of people marched toward the presidential palace in Dhaka on 5 August.
Touhid Hossain, Bangladesh’s foreign affairs adviser, told reporters on Monday that Dhaka has sent a diplomatic note to India’s foreign ministry. He did not elaborate on the judicial process.
The head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has demanded that India send Ms Hasina back so that Bangladesh can try her for what it says are “crimes against humanity” during the anti-government protests and crimes committed during her 15-year-long authoritarian rule.
The Yunus government revealed in November that about 1,500 people died in the protests that brought down the Awami League government, and as many as 3,500 may have been forcibly abducted during Ms Hasina’s rule.
The protests, which began in July as a student-led movement against public sector job quotas, escalated into some of the deadliest unrest since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, with the police accused of open firing on demonstrators.
Mr Yunus’ has vowed to ensure justice for victims of what he referred to as the “autocratic regime’s wrath”. “We will prosecute all the crimes committed over the past 15 years,” he added.
The Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal has issued arrest warrants for Ms Hasina and her close aides, and the government has sought help from Interpol for her arrest.
Ms Hasina’s US-based son, in a statement posted on his Facebook page, criticised the move hours after Monday’s request by the interim government, questioning the process and credibility of the tribunal handling the charges against her.
“The judges and prosecutors appointed by unelected … regime to conduct farcical trial process through International Crimes Tribunal makes it a political witch hunt that forsakes justice and marks another ongoing onslaught to prosecute (Hasina’s) Awmai League leadership,” said Sajeeb Wazed.
“The Kangaroo tribunal and subsequent request for (Hasina’s) extradition comes while hundreds of leaders and activists are extrajudicially killed, framing of outrageous murder charges, illegal incarceration of thousands by law enforcement and violent attacks including looting, vandalism and arson are going on with impunity every day fueled by denial of the regime,” he said.
The Indian foreign ministry said it had received Bangladesh’s request but did not immediately provide details. Ties between the two allies have become strained since Ms Hasina took refuge in New Delhi and over India’s protests against targeted violence against minorities in Bangladesh.
Dhaka’s request to New Delhi came two weeks after India’s foreign secretary visited Bangladesh, with both countries expressing hope to clear the clouds and pursue constructive relations.
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