Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
New Delhi, Nov 17 (IANS) Bangladesh’s interim government has urged India to extradite former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Kamal, who were awarded death sentence by a court for ordering the killing of protesters during the students’ agitation in July. According to the news received from Dhaka.
Giving details of Monday’s proceedings, legal advisor to the interim government Asif Nazrul told the media that his administration will send another letter to India for Sheikh Hasina’s extradition to this country.
However, “Section 31 of the Extradition Act, 1962, read with Articles 1, 6 and 8 of the India-Bangladesh Extradition Treaty (2013, amended 2016), provides India with sufficient legal grounds to reject Bangladesh’s extradition request,” said Aditya Bhatt of Ahmedabad-based Bhatt and Joshi Associates.
“Although Article 1 establishes a general obligation to extradite for crimes punishable by at least one year of imprisonment in both jurisdictions, this obligation is not absolute and is subject to important exceptions built into the treaty framework,” the lawyer said.
Meanwhile, in a written statement, Hasina has rejected allegations of crimes against humanity linked to her administration’s 2024 crackdown on student-led protests and said she never ordered security forces to open fire on protesters. He described the sentencing at Bangladesh’s International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) as “biased and politically motivated”.
The ICT, established in 2010 under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973, was originally designed to prosecute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity from the 1971 liberation war. Over time, the 1973 Act was amended, adding and deleting several sections. According to this, if a person is found guilty then there is a provision for death penalty as the maximum punishment.
Former home minister Kamal, who like Hasina is in exile in India, has also reiterated that ICT is “invalid and unconstitutional”. According to Bhatt, “rushed tribunal proceedings”, trials in absentia, absence of independent legal representation, and death sentences handed down after regime change raise credible concerns about fair trial guarantees and judicial independence.
“Article 8 allows refusal if the request is not made “in good faith in the interests of justice” or if the accused would be subjected to torture, cruel treatment, or a trial that falls below international standards contemplated by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” he said.
Bhatt said, “The prosecution of a former chief within 15 months of the removal of the government, coupled with the interim administration’s explicit characterization of accountability as an integral part of its political mandate, warrants an examination of whether the underlying motivation is justice or political vendetta.”
The legal expert also observed that these considerations are not mere legal technicalities, but reflect established international human rights jurisprudence in precedents such as Soering v UK, which mandates a refusal when there is a real risk of a denial of justice.
Additionally, “India’s constitutional jurisprudence, based on Article 21 of the Constitution, applies to all ‘persons’ including foreign nationals,” he said, citing that it mandates that deprivation of liberty occurs only through fair process.
“Indian courts have consistently held that individuals facing extradition retain constitutional protections that require independent judicial scrutiny of whether foreign proceedings meet fundamental standards of impartiality – something Bangladesh’s proceedings do not satisfy given the political context, procedural shortcomings and proportionality concerns around the death penalty,” he said.
Meanwhile, tensions have escalated in Bangladesh with heavy security reportedly imposed in the capital Dhaka amid fears of mass unrest.
Hasina, Bangladesh’s longest-serving prime minister, was ousted in August 2024 after months of student-led protests against corruption, authoritarianism and economic mismanagement. The protests escalated into violent clashes, in which hundreds of people were reportedly killed.
–IANS
JB/UK