(Reuters) – A Dhaka court on Sunday issued an arrest warrant for former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is wanted on a murder charge, ahead of any possible attempt by her to return to Bangladesh.
The court termed Hasina, who also faces charges of extortion, an “absconder” and ordered police to confiscate her property if she did not surrender by May 28, court officials said.
The Awami League chief is in London and has vowed to try to board a flight to Bangladesh on Sunday in defiance of an order by the army-backed government to stay away. Authorities say her homecoming could trigger more violence.
A representative of Hasina in London said she had every intention of going ahead and boarding the flight, returning to Bangladesh to face the charges against her.
“Her intention has always been to return and fight these charges and clear her name,” Radwan Siddiq, Hasina’s nephew, told Reuters.
“She has always said that she doesn’t believe that these cases will stand up in a court of law because they are politically motivated.”
Asked what she was likely to do if she were turned away from the flight, which is due to leave Heathrow at around 1400 GMT, Siddiq said Hasina and her supporters would have to “sit down and take stock of the situation”.
Hasina was refused permission to board a British Airways flight to Dhaka last week. The Bangladesh government has asked airlines, immigration officials and security forces to block her return.
The arrest warrant order arose from a case filed by a Jamaat-e-Islami official over street battles on Oct. 28 that killed several people.
Hasina and rival Begum Khaleda Zia, also an ex-leader of the impoverished country, have been hounded by the interim authority in a crackdown on corruption that has so far netted more than 160 senior politicians.
Meanwhile, Khaleda’s close associates have said authorities want her to go into exile in Saudi Arabia.
But Khaleda, who ended her five-year tenure as prime minister in October, has vowed to fight all charges at home.
An election had been planned for January but was called off by the interim administration as followers of Khaleda and Hasina fought street battles for weeks, killing at least 45 people and injuring hundreds.
