Sheikh Hasina will return through legal process, what India will do is up to them: Law Minister
Ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina will return to Bangladesh through legal means, said law minister Asaduzzaman, in response to a question about whether she would be given a legal opportunity to come back to the country.
“Sheikh Hasina will return to Bangladesh through legal means. We have completed everything required from our side as part of the legal process", he said.
The minister made the remarks while responding to journalists’ questions after an event at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Agargaon, Dhaka, on Saturday afternoon.
Asked whether Hasina would be given any legal opportunity to return, the law minister said she would come back through legal means.
Her extradition under the extradition treaty would itself be a legal process, he added.
A journalist referred to a BBC report published on Friday about Hasina’s return to Bangladesh and asked about the legal process involved.
In response, the law minister said, “We have completed everything required from our side as part of the legal process. What they (India) will do is up to them.”
Referring to the 1973 law, the minister said Article 47(3) states that a person accused or convicted of crimes against humanity cannot claim fundamental rights.
Asked whether the Indian government had held any discussions with the Bangladesh government about sending Hasina to a third country, he said, “They will be able to answer that.”
Bangladesh government has been asking India to extradite Hasina under the prisoner transfer treaty. She was sentenced to death in a crimes against humanity case over the killings during the July mass uprising. India has yet to respond to the request.
Meanwhile, Hasina has declared that she wants to return to Bangladesh in December, whatever the cost. Reuters recently reported that she had written to the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi seeking a passport and national identity card.
On Thursday, BBC Bangla published a report on Hasina’s announcement of her return. The report suggested that she had not made the announcement without India’s consent. However, it mentioned two conditions that India was said to have set.
The first was that Hasina had arrived in India aboard a military aircraft of the Bangladesh Army. If she were to be taken back, the Bangladesh Army will have to arrange her return as well. She could be brought back by land or by air.
The second condition was that Bangladesh would have to guarantee that Hasina will be allowed to appeal against her death sentence and that the trial over the July killings would be restarted.
On Friday, Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal did not directly respond to questions about the report.
A journalist asked whether there had been any assurances or communication regarding reports that New Delhi wanted Bangladesh to send a military aircraft to bring Hasina back from New Delhi, allow her to appeal against her death sentence and retry her over the 2024 crackdown.
The Indian spokesperson did not answer the question directly. “You have mentioned several possible scenarios. Look, I have nothing to say on that,” he said.