After Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, was sentenced to death in absentia for “crimes against humanity”, the interim government in Dhaka urged India to immediately extradite the deposed leader. Hasina has been living in exile in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year in the face of a student-led uprising that ended her 15-year iron-fisted rule.
Hasina, along with her former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who is also believed to be in India, was earlier declared a fugitive by the court.
Hasina said the charges were unjustified, arguing that she and Khan “acted in good faith and were trying to minimise the loss of life.”
“We lost control of the situation, but to characterise what happened as a premeditated assault on citizens is simply to misread the facts,” she said Monday in a statement denouncing a verdict she called “biased and politically motivated.”
Her Awami League party called for a national shutdown on Tuesday to protest the verdict.
Hasina, 78, cannot appeal the verdict unless she surrenders or is arrested within 30 days of the judgement.
The Extradition Act, 1962, also empowers the Indian government to deny extradition, stay proceedings, or discharge the person sought, depending on the circumstances.
Section 29 of the Act clarifies that India can reject an extradition request if it appears trivial or not made in good faith, if it is politically motivated or if the extradition is not in the interest of justice.
The law also empowers the Centre to stay proceedings “at any time”, cancel warrants, or discharge the individual sought.
By James Kisoo
