Dhaka sends formal extradition request to India for ousted PM Sheikh Hasina

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s interim government has sent an “official letter” to India seeking the extradition of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina after a special tribunal sentenced her to death, a senior adviser said on Sunday.

“The letter was sent the day before yesterday,” Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain was quoted as saying by the state-run BSS news agency.

He, however, did not provide further details.

Citing an official source at the foreign ministry, the agency said that the note verbal (official diplomatic letter) was sent through the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

On Nov 17, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) sentenced 78-year-old Hasina to death along with then home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on charges of committing “crimes against humanity” after their trial in absentia. Hasina is currently in India. Kamal is believed to be hiding in India.

Hasina’s Awami League government was toppled in a student-led violent protest termed as the ‘July Uprising’ on August 5 last year.

Three days later, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus flew from Paris at the call of the protesting students to assume the charge of the interim government as its chief adviser.

Hasina and the two others were accused of adopting brutal means to tame the protestors, while a UN rights office report said about 1,400 people were killed between July 15 and August 15 last year.

The interim government in December last year sent a diplomatic note verbal seeking Hasina’s extradition. India just acknowledged its receipt with no further comment.

After the verdict against Hasina, the External Affairs Ministry issued a statement saying “India has noted the verdict…”

“As a close neighbour, India remains committed to the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including in peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in that country. We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end,” the statement said.