Published : 23 Dec 2024, 11:44 PM
Updated : 21 Aug 2026, 12:24 PM
The Bangladesh government has sent a diplomatic letter to India formally requesting the extradition of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, says Touhid Hossain, the interim government’s advisor on foreign affairs.
“We have clearly informed India,” he said at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday. “We have informed them that we want her returned as part of the judicial process.”
Asked how the formal request was made, Touhid said: “We have sent the Indian government a note verbale [a form of diplomatic letter].”
Earlier in the day, Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury had told the media that a letter had been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to take the necessary action to bring Hasina back.
“We have sent a letter to the foreign ministry regarding her extradition. The process is currently underway,” he said at an event marking the Border Guard Bangladesh or BGB Day at Dhaka’s Pilkhana.
The advisor also said Bangladesh and India had signed an extradition treaty and the former prime minister could be brought back to Bangladesh under its terms.
On Aug 5, Awami League President Sheikh Hasina fled to India in the face of a student-led mass movement. She has been there ever since. Though some members of her party’s senior leadership have since been arrested, most of them remain in hiding.
The Awami League government formed the International Crimes Tribunal in 2010 to try crimes against humanity cases during the 1971 Liberation War. Now, the interim government is using the same tribunal to try allegations of ‘genocide’ against the former Awami League regime for its efforts to suppress the student-led mass movement.
Many allegations of ‘genocide and crimes against humanity’ between Jul 5 and Aug 5 have been submitted to the tribunal’s investigation agency and Prosecutor’s Office.
The tribunal has since issued a warrant for Hasina’s arrest in one case and warrants for the arrest of 45 people, including her family members and other Awami League leaders in another case.
