Bangladesh will seek the extradition of the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to face trial on charges including crimes against humanity, the country’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus, has said in a speech.
Hasina, whose autocratic regime governed Bangladesh for 15 years, was toppled in a student-led revolution in August. Since then she has been living in exile in India after fleeing the country in a helicopter as thousands of protesters overran the presidential palace.
Following her escape, Bangladesh has been run by an interim government under Yunus, an economist and Nobel laureate who agreed to return to the country as a “chief adviser” to help restore democracy and reform Bangladesh.
In an address over the weekend, Yunus confirmed his government intended to bring Hasina back to the country to face a mounting number of charges, including corruption, murder and crimes against humanity.
Referring to Hasina, Yunus said: “We will seek the extradition of the ousted autocrat from India.”
Earlier this month, prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Hasina and confirmed they intended to put out an Interpol red notice for the former prime minister and her allies, many of whom fled abroad as protests broke out over the summer. Others who remained in the country or were stopped from leaving have been arrested.
“We have already taken initiatives to try those responsible for enforced disappearances, murders and the mass killings during the July-to-August uprising,” said Yunus in his address, which marked 100 days since the interim government took power.
The decision to make an official extradition request for Hasina could cause diplomatic tensions with neighbouring India. During her time in office, Hasina was seen to be very close to the Indian government and the country’s decision to offer her a safe haven has been a source of anger among many in Bangladesh. Hasina has been accused of using her position in India to attempt to undermine the actions of Yunus and the interim government.
The first hearings of a special tribunal looking into alleged crimes committed by the Hasina regime will begin this week. As well as human rights abuses, business people and allies close to Hasina are accused of rampant corruption and embezzling millions of dollars out of the country. Prosecutors have sought help from financial agencies in the UK, US and Singapore in an attempt to track down the allegedly stolen money.
On Monday, 13 people, including several former ministers, a judge and a businessman who was Hasina’s private sector adviser, appeared before the court. A further six people are due to appear on Wednesday.
Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, told reporters that the defendants were “complicit in enabling massacres by participating in planning, inciting violence, ordering law enforcement officers to shoot on sight, and obstructing efforts to prevent a genocide”.
According to Yunus, more than 3,500 people may have been forcibly disappeared during Hasina’s autocratic rule, when it became commonplace for her critics or opponents to be picked up by the security agencies and tortured in undisclosed detention centres. Many of the victims were never seen again after being abducted.
Yunus said the number killed during the uprising that eventually ousted Hasina could exceed 1,500. In an attempt to bring the protests under control, Hasina’s government had given police orders to shoot protesters on sight. Officers were documented using metal pellets, rubber bullets and live ammunition against civilians.
Yunus said: “Every day, new names are being added to the list of martyrs. We will prosecute all the crimes committed over the past 15 years.”
In his speech, he also requested for people to be patient when it came to the reforms that his interim government has been tasked with implementing, including ensuring an independent judiciary and ensuring transparency and accountability to prevent autocratic leaders gaining power in the future.
Yunus reaffirmed that he intended to remain in post only to oversee the reforms, after which there would be an election and a handover of power to an elected government. Nonetheless, the timeline for the vote remains unclear and there has been rising agitation on the streets.
He said: “I promise that we will hold the much-anticipated election once the necessary and essential reforms are complete. I request your patience until then. We aim to build an electoral system that will endure for decades. For this, we need some time.”
