Bangladesh plans to request extradition of Sheikh Hasina from India

DHAKA: Bangladesh's caretaker government has announced it will seek the extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India, who fled the country following violent protests that led to the ouster of her government last month.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the chairman of the International Criminal Court (ICT) in Bangladesh, Mohammad Tajul Islam, accused Hasina of committing “massacres” and said: “Since the main perpetrator has fled the country, we will initiate the legal process to bring her back.”

This development came after the country's de facto foreign minister, Mohammad Touhid Hossain, said the country must “demand their return” because there are “so many cases” against them.

Hasina fled the country for India on August 5 after a violent uprising against her killed hundreds of people, including many students. She and senior members of her cabinet have already been named in two murder cases.

Many of her former ministers and advisers were also arrested.

“Bangladesh has an extradition treaty with India, which was signed in 2013 when Hasina’s government was in power. [….] Since she has been made the main accused in the massacres in Bangladesh, we will try to bring her back to Bangladesh through legal channels and put her on trial there,” said the ICT chief prosecutor.

The ICT was launched by Hasina in 2010, but her government has been accused of extensive human rights abuses, including the mass arrest and extrajudicial execution of her political opponents.

Hasina's last official location is a military airport near India's capital New Delhi. Her presence in India has infuriated Bangladesh.

Dhaka has revoked her diplomatic passport and the countries have a bilateral extradition agreement that would allow her to return to face trial.

However, a clause in the treaty states that extradition could be refused if the crime has a “political character”.

Interim leader Yunus said last week that Hasina should “keep her mouth shut” during her exile in India until she is brought home for trial.

“If India wants to keep her until Bangladesh wants her back, the condition would be that she keeps quiet,” 84-year-old Yunus told the Press Trust of India news agency.

His government was under public pressure to demand her extradition and trial because of the hundreds of protesters killed during the weeks of unrest that ultimately led to her ouster.

According to a preliminary report by the United Nations, more than 600 people were killed in the weeks before Hasina's overthrow. The death toll is “probably an underestimate.”

Bangladesh last month launched an investigation led by a retired Supreme Court judge into hundreds of enforced disappearances by security forces during Hasina's rule.