Bangladesh tribunal issues arrest warrants against Hasina, 45 others for 'crimes against humanity'

PTI, DHAKA, OCT 17, 2024: Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal on Thursday issued arrest warrants against former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted after massive anti-government protests, and 45 others for alleged crimes against humanity. 

The tribunal directed the authorities to produce Hasina and the others before it by November 18, local media reported. The arrest warrant against Hasina could—technically—open up the possibility of the country's interim government seeking her extradition from India, where she fled on August 5. 

The decision to approach India on this is likely to be a political call. Dhaka, however, has indicated earlier that this remains an option. Advocate Tajul Islam, the tribunal's chief prosecutor, on Sunday said Interpol's assistance would be sought to bring back the "fugitives," including Hasina. 

The former Prime Minister, 77, landed at the Hindon airbase near Delhi on August 5 as the protests, which started out as an agitation by students over a controversial quota for government jobs, peaked. Hasina was believed to have been shifted later to an unspecified location and has not been seen in public since then. 

The warrants against Hasina and others, including her party Awami League's top leaders, were issued on the first day of the judicial proceedings by the reconstituted tribunal, the Dhaka Tribune said. 

The tribunal, led by Justice Golam Mortuza Majumdar, passed the order after the prosecution filed two petitions seeking the arrest warrants, Islam was quoted as saying by the Daily Star. So far, more than 60 complaints of enforced disappearance and murder have been filed at the tribunal against Hasina, other leaders from the Awami League-led 14-party alliance, journalists, and former officials of law enforcement agencies. 

Altogether, Hasina faces almost 200 cases, mostly murders during the student protests. Hundreds of people were killed also in the violence that erupted across the country following the fall of the Hasina government, taking the death toll to more than 1,000 since the protests first started in mid-July. 

After taking over on August 8, Bangladesh's interim government had said it would try in the International Crimes Tribunal those involved in the killings during the mass movement of students against the Hasina-led government. 

The tribunal's judges, prosecution team, and investigation agency appointed by the previous government stepped down when the dispensation led by Muhammad Yunus took charge, and the body was reconstituted recently. In an interview to PTI in September, Yunus accused Hasina of making political remarks from India. 

He said the ousted prime minister must remain silent to prevent discomfort to both countries until Dhaka requests her extradition.