Bangladesh May Seek Interpol’s Intervention in Extraditing Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh’s interim government may now resort to seeking the help of Interpol to extradite former PM Sheikh Hasina back to the country. After the violence broke out in Dhaka in July 2024, Sheikh Hasina has been in exile in India.

Recently an international tribunal in Bangladesh tried Sheikh Hasina for war crimes and passed a guilty verdict followed by a death sentence. Dr. Yunus-led interim government of Bangladesh has since requested India to hand over Sheikh Hasina back to Bangladeshi authorities so that the sentence can be carried out.

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India, reacting to the development, had asserted that it “remains committed to peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in Bangladesh”, but has not commented on the extradition request.

While India’s stand on the extradition request remains unclear, the Bangladeshi interim government is now planning to get Interpol involved to bring Sheikh Hasina back as Bangladesh sees it as an ‘obligatory responsibility’ on India’s part to hand Hasina back.

Death sentence for Sheikh Hasina and her minister

On Monday, an international crime tribunal in Dhaka, Bangladesh produced a guilty verdict for former Bangladesh CM Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan and gave them the death sentence in relation to the July 2024 agitation that led to massive casualties. The court had also ordered a confiscation of their properties and ordered the value generated from the confiscation to be distributed among the families that lost a loved one in the 2024 agitation.

Former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who had turned a state witness and played a key part in the proceedings, was also found guilty but was imply given a 5-year sentence by the tribunal.

Sheikh Hasina’s reaction

The former PM, on the other hand, had vehemently opposed the verdict questioning the validity of the tribunal to pass a judgement given the parliament of the country is not in session. Calling the verdict a politically motivated conspiracy, Sheikh Hasina had challenged the same outright.