A Bangladeshi court has ordered an arrest warrant for former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August after she was ousted by mass protests.
Hasina is wanted by Bangladesh’s International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) for her alleged involvements in “crimes against humanity” that took place during the demonstrations, in which hundreds were killed.
Hasina, who was in charge of Bangladesh for more than 20 years, was seen as an autocrat whose government ruthlessly clamped down on dissent.
Arrest warrants have also been issued for 45 others, including former government ministers who also fled the country.
“The court has… ordered the arrest of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and to produce her in court on November 18,” Mohammad Tajul Islam, the ICT’s chief prosecutor, told reporters on Thursday.
“Sheikh Hasina was at the helm of those who committed massacres, killings and crimes against humanity in July to August,” he added.
Bangladesh’s interim health ministry said in August that more than 1,000 people were killed in the violence this summer after student-led protests against government job quotas turned into mass demonstrations, making it the bloodiest period in the country’s history since its 1971 independence.
Hasina, 77, has not been seen in public since fleeing Bangladesh. Her last official whereabouts is a military airbase near India’s capital Delhi.
She was initially expected to stay in India for a short time, but reports say her attempts to seek asylum elsewhere have been unsuccessful so far.
Her continued presence in India poses a challenge for Delhi in working with the new interim government in Dhaka. Many in Bangladesh are angered by the fact she has been given shelter by India.
The new interim government in Bangladesh has revoked her diplomatic passport and the two countries have a bilateral extradition treaty which would permit her return to face criminal trial.
A clause in the treaty, however, says extradition might be refused if the offence is of a “political character”.
Hasina’s government created the ICT in 2010 to investigate atrocities during the war with Pakistan, which gave Bangladesh its independence in 1971.
The United Nations and rights groups criticised its procedural shortcomings and it became widely seen as a means for Hasina to eliminate political opponents.
The tribunal, reconstituted by the interim government, began its proceedings on Thursday. Critics say it lacks judges with experience of international law.
Several cases accusing Hasina of orchestrating the “mass murder” of protesters are being investigated by the court.
Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed has said his mother is ready to face trial. “My mother has done nothing wrong,” he told Reuters news agency last month. (BBC News)
