Will seek Hasina’s extradition from India, says Bangladesh interim leader YunusYunus

Bangladesh’s interim leader and Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus on Sunday said that his administration would seek the extradition of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India, where she has been in exile since fleeing a mass uprising in August.

In a televised address to the nation on his first 100 days in office, Yunus said the interim government would try those responsible, including Hasina, for hundreds of deaths during the student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule.

Yunus took the helm on August 8, three days after Hasina fled the country. He said that not only the deaths in the uprising, but all other violations of human rights, including alleged enforced disappearances while Hasina was in power, would be investigated. Bangladesh has sought help from the global police organisation, Interpol, in issuing a red notice for the arrest of Hasina and her associates.

“We will seek the return of the fallen autocrat Sheikh Hasina from India. I have already discussed the issue with chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan,” Yunus said.

The Yunus-led government is also pushing for the ICC to take up the case. Yunus said his government’s most important task was to hold new elections to hand over power to an elected government.

But he downplayed reports of attacks on minorities, especially Hindus, many of whom complain hard-line Islamists were becoming more influential since Hasina’s ouster.