
Bangladesh’s interim government on Tuesday said it will continue its efforts to bring back ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India and will also seek international intervention if needed.
According to the news of ‘Daily Star’ newspaper published from Dhaka, Asif Nazrul, advisor on legal affairs in the interim government, told reporters at the secretariat here that if India refuses to send back Hasina, it will be a violation of the extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India. will be.
Hasina (77) has been living in India since August 5 last year. She had gone to India after the 16-year-old Awami League (AL) government fell under the pressure of a massive student movement.
Arrest warrant issued against Sheikh Hasina and others
Bangladesh’s International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) has issued arrest warrants for Hasina and several former cabinet ministers, advisers, military and civilian officials for “crimes against humanity and genocide”.
Bangladesh had sent a diplomatic note to India last year demanding Hasina’s extradition. Nazrul said, “We have written a letter for extradition. If India does not extradite Sheikh Hasina, it will be a clear violation of the extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India.
He said that in that situation the Ministry of External Affairs will take necessary steps to raise the matter with the international community. The Legal Advisor said that the Ministry of External Affairs is also making efforts and ‘Red Alert’ has already been issued.
‘Efforts will continue to bring back Hasina’
“We are doing everything we can,” Nazrul said. The government will continue all efforts to bring back Sheikh Hasina. If necessary, international support will be sought.
According to the provisions of the India-Bangladesh extradition treaty, extradition can be refused if the crimes are of ‘political character’.
According to another provision, a person cannot be extradited unless he has been sentenced to imprisonment or other form of detention for a period of four months or more.