Bangladesh on Monday requested India to extradite former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who have both been sentenced to death by the country’s International Crimes Tribunal, in a case of crimes against humanity during the July Uprising of last year.
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.
Hasina has been living in exile in India since August 5 last year, after she fled the country in the face of a so-called student-led uprising.
The tribunal tried her in absentia.
The Bangladesh ICT had issued an arrest warrant for Hasina in October last year after it initiated the trial.
Dhaka had then written to New Delhi requesting her repatriation as per the extradition treaty between the two countries.
However, India has maintained silence over the issue.
On Monday, after the ICT announced the verdict on Hasina’s case, Dhaka reminded Delhi of its “obligation” once again, media reports said.
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.”
