Bangladesh will seek extradition of ex-Prime Minister Hasina from India

Chairman of the Interim Government of Bangladesh and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus said that his administration will seek the extradition of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina from India. The Associated Press (AP) reported Nov. 17.

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

Yunus said not only the deaths during the student uprising but all other human rights violations, including alleged enforced disappearances during Hasina's rule, would be investigated. Bangladesh has sought the help of the world police organization Interpol in issuing a red notice for the arrest of Hasina and her accomplices.

Bangladesh's interim leader is also pushing for the International Criminal Court to take up Hasina's case.

Yunus said the most important task is to hold fresh elections to hand over power to an elected government, but he did not give a timeframe in which this would materialize.

Earlier on October 30, Russian President Vladimir Putin appointed diplomat Alexander Khozin as the new ambassador to the Republic of Bangladesh. The corresponding decree was published on the official Internet portal of legal information.

On August 23, the interim government of Bangladesh filed more than 50 charges of serious crimes against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Earlier on August 16, the students who ousted the prime minister rejected calls by the two main political parties to hold quick elections and are considering forming their own political force to carry out sweeping reforms in the country. The country is now ruled by an interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, assisted in part by student leaders.

On August 5, Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country with her sister Rehana, seeking asylum in the UK. According to media reports, thousands of protesters stormed her Ganabhaban residence in Dhaka afterward. Soon the rioters started smashing the house of the country's Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

The protests began in Bangladesh in late June and were held as peaceful rallies. Their participants expressed dissatisfaction with the return to the quota system for filling government jobs, which was in place from 1972 to 2018 for family members of those who fought in the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

The Bangladesh High Court decided to reinstate it, reserving 30% of the posts. On July 19, it was reported that the state government had cut off internet access across the country amid growing student unrest. At least 39 deaths were reported at the time. Later it became known about more than 300 dead.