Canada not expelling Noor Chowdhury, law minister says

The Bangladesh government has denied media reports that Canada has scrapped an asylum plea by Noor Chowdhury, a self-confessed killer of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and ordered his deportation.

Chowdhury, sentenced to death in the Bangabandhu assassination case, is now a fugitive in Canada.

Law Minister Anisul Huq said on Saturday that the Bangladesh High Commission in Ottawa had confirmed that the report was 'untrue.'

"After reports in the Bangladeshi media, the foreign minister spoke to me from New York. The high commissioner (in Canada) has confirmed it is totally untrue," he told reporters at his office.

The minister said the envoy reached out to the Bangladesh desk at the Canadian foreign office as well as Chowdhury's lawyers.

Bangladesh has requested Canada several times to extradite Chowdhury, but Ottawa turned down the request citing legal issues involved.

The court sentenced Noor Chowdhury to death for the massacre of the family of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Aug 15, 1975.

The Canadian legal system does not allow deportation of any foreign citizen who might face the death penalty in his home country.

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Following Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's meeting with her Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau in Montreal last week, the Press Secretary to the Prime Minister, Ihsanul Karim, told bdnews24.com that officials of the two countries would discuss ways of ensuring Chowdhury’s extradition to Bangladesh.

Subsequently, some newspapers in Bangladesh reported that Canada had decided to expel Chowdhury. Now the law minister has brushed aside the reports as 'totally false'.

Huq, who was a prosecution lawyer in the Bangabandhu murder case, also said that the government would continue to try to get the killers back to the country through a legal process.

"We'll speak about the issue of Noor Chowdhury whenever we discuss things with the Canadian government. I believe such talks took place during the PM’s visit and those were fruitful," he said.

He also reiterated that Bangladesh officials discussed the deportation of Rashed Chowdhury, another convicted killer of Bangabandhu now staying in the US, with the country's Secretary of State John Kerry during his recent visit to Dhaka.

"Mr. Kerry said he would contact us after inquiring about the matter back home," Huq added.