DHAKA: Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal plans to request the extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from neighboring India, accusing her of orchestrating “massacres.” Hasina, who resigned from her position and fled to India on August 5 following weeks of escalating student-led protests, is now facing legal actions from the tribunal she established in 2010 to investigate crimes from the 1971 independence war.
Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), announced that the legal process to secure Hasina’s return has begun. “As the main perpetrator has fled the country, we will start the legal procedure to bring her back,” Islam said.
Bangladesh and India have a criminal extradition treaty, signed in 2013 under Hasina’s government. The tribunal alleges that Hasina’s administration committed severe human rights abuses, including mass detentions and extrajudicial killings. The former leader has not been seen publicly since her departure, and Bangladesh has revoked her diplomatic passport, intensifying diplomatic tensions.
