Bangladesh urges India to extradite ex-PM Sheikh Hasina
Dhaka asks New Delhi to return Hasina and ex-home minister Asaduzzaman Khan after a special tribunal sentenced both to death for crimes against humanity
DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — Bangladesh has formally asked India to extradite former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal after a special war crimes tribunal sentenced both to death for crimes against humanity linked to the July Uprising, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday.
In a statement, the ministry said the International Crimes Tribunal — a domestic court created to investigate grave human rights violations — found Hasina and Khan guilty of murder during last year’s mass protests. The tribunal announced its verdict on Monday through a three-member panel headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder.
Officials said the verdict was issued in absentia because both Hasina and Khan fled the country on Aug. 5 after a student-led uprising forced the government to resign. Hasina has been residing in India since then.
The Foreign Ministry said granting asylum to individuals convicted of crimes against humanity would be “unfriendly” and undermine the justice process.
It urged New Delhi to hand over the two “as per the existing extradition treaty between the countries,” citing what officials described as India’s legal responsibility under the bilateral agreement.
Rights groups and legal analysts note that Bangladesh’s request is the latest exchange in a contentious post-uprising political landscape, as transitional authorities attempt to prosecute figures accused of ordering or enabling deadly crackdowns on protesters.
The tribunal also convicted Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, the police chief during the July Uprising, but reduced his sentence to five years after he turned state witness, according to court documents.
An arrest warrant for Hasina was issued in October last year after the tribunal accepted charges against her. Bangladeshi officials say they first wrote to New Delhi at that time seeking her repatriation, though India has not publicly responded.
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