After court verdict, Bangladesh says India has an ‘obligation’ to extradiate Hasina
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The government has once again requested India to extradite former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who have both been sentenced to death in a case of crime against humanity during the July Uprising.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs made the call in a statement after the death sentence was given by the International Crimes Tribunal on Monday.
The statement said, “The verdict given by the International Crimes Tribunal held both absconding accused Hasina and Asaduzzaman guilty and sentenced them for the murders during the July Uprising.
It would be extremely unfriendly and demeaning to justice for any other country to grant asylum to these individuals convicted of crimes against humanity.”
“We urge the Indian government to immediately hand over these two convicts to the Bangladeshi authorities. It is also a legal obligation for India as per the existing extradition treaty between the two countries.”
On Monday, a three-member International Crimes Tribunal-1 bench, headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, announced the verdict.
Meanwhile, Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, the police chief at the time of the July Uprising, was also convicted in the case, but had his sentence reduced to five years in prison after turning state witness.
After stepping down in the face of a student-led mass uprising on Aug 5 last year, Hasina fled to India. She has been living in India since then. The tribunal tried her in absentia.
The ICT issued an arrest warrant for Hasina in October last year after it initiated the trial. Dhaka then wrote to Delhi requesting her repatriation as per the extradition treaty between the two countries.
In the meantime, the trial of one case concluded but the Indian government never responded to Dhaka’s request. On Monday, after the ICT announced the verdict on Hasina’s case, Dhaka reminded Delhi of its “obligation” once again.
Law Advisor Asif Nazrul said the government would write to New Delhi again requesting Hasina’s extradition. “If India continues to shelter this ‘mass murderer’, then India must understand that this is a very reprehensible act of hostility against Bangladesh and its people.”