Bangladesh to start legal procedure to bring Sheikh Hasina back

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh says it is working to get former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the opposition, back home from nearby India.

Bangladesh’s ICT Chief Mohammad Tajul Islam told reporters on Sunday, “As the main offender has fled the country, we will start the legal procedure to bring her back,” accusing the former prime minister of carrying out “massacres”.

Islam’s remarks follow the statement of Mohammad Touhid Hossain, the nation’s de facto foreign minister, who said that the nation “would have to ask for her return” since she was dealing with “so many cases”.

Following a violent rebellion that claimed hundreds of lives, many of them students, Hasina left the nation for India on August 5. She and key members of her government have already been named in two murder investigations. Several of her former advisors and ministers have also been taken into custody.

The ICT chief prosecutor said while Hasina’s government was in office, Bangladesh and India signed a criminal extradition treaty in 2013. He said Hasina has been named as the primary suspect in the massacres and the organization will attempt to lawfully bring her back to Bangladesh to face trial.

However, according to a treaty clause if the offence is of a “political character,” extradition might be rejected.

Last week, Interim leader Yunus advised Hasina to “keep quiet” while exiled until she is brought back to Bangladesh for a trial.