Published : 14 Nov 2026, 02:23 PM
Updated : 14 Nov 2026, 02:23 PM
Sheikh Hasina will be brought back to Bangladesh through a legal process under the extradition treaty with India, with Dhaka having already taken the necessary steps to secure her return, according to Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman.
"We have done everything required of us under the legal process. What they [India] do next is up to them," he told reporters on Saturday after the annual general meeting of the Bangladesh Registration Service Association (BRS).
Asked whether Hasina would be given legal recourse, Asaduzzaman said her return would follow established legal procedures.
"Sheikh Hasina will return to Bangladesh through a legal process," he said.
"When she is extradited under the treaty, that itself is a legal process."
Hasina fled to India on Aug 5, 2024, after her government was toppled in a student-led mass uprising.
The International Crimes Tribunal sentenced her to death in a crimes against humanity case in November 2025.
Bangladesh subsequently sought her extradition through a formal request to India, but New Delhi has not responded.
Asked whether India might send Hasina to a third country, Asaduzzaman said only the Indian government could answer that question.
The minister also addressed the legal options available to Hasina, saying the Appellate Division had no authority to condone delays in appeals involving crimes against humanity cases.
"The Appellate Division has no legal provision to condone delays in such cases because the special law does not allow it. They themselves enacted that law," he said.
Citing Article 47(3) of the Constitution, Asaduzzaman referred to a 1973 amendment introduced under the government of Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
He said that the provision prevented anyone accused or convicted of crimes against humanity from claiming fundamental rights.
"This is a law they themselves enacted," he said.
Asaduzzaman also reiterated the government's commitment to prosecuting crimes against humanity, saying it was following through on the pledge made to the nation during the July Uprising.
On the possibility of prosecuting the Awami League as a political party, he said investigators and prosecutors would decide how to proceed independently.
"We expect the investigation team and prosecution to proceed independently. We do not interfere in their work."
Asked about measures to protect witnesses involved in the proceedings, the minister said the government was reviewing the matter.
