SRINAGAR: Bangladesh’s interim government has formally requested India to extradite deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, days after she was handed a death sentence by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for crimes against humanity during last year’s July–August unrest.
Officials told the Dhaka Tribune that a fresh diplomatic note was sent to New Delhi shortly after High Representative for the Rohingya Issue Khalilur Rahman returned from engagements in the Indian capital. Foreign Affairs Adviser Touhid Hossain on Sunday confirmed that Dhaka had again communicated with India regarding Hasina’s return, though he withheld further details.
A diplomatic source in New Delhi told United News of Bangladesh that the note verbale was dispatched soon after the 7th National Security Advisers’ meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave, attended by Khalilur Rahman on Thursday.
The renewed request follows Tuesday’s ICT verdict, which sentenced Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death. Former police chief and state witness Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun received a five-year jail term.
Following the ruling, the Bangladesh government urged India to swiftly hand over both convicted individuals, reiterating that the matter fell under the bilateral extradition treaty.
In a statement quoted by the Dhaka Tribune, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said India was obliged under existing agreements to cooperate, warning that granting shelter to the convicted individuals would be “a grave act of unfriendly conduct and a travesty of justice.”
