Bangladesh interim govt making all efforts to bring back Sheikh Hasina and others from India: Home Adviser

Dhaka: Bangladesh's interim government is making all efforts to bring back ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and others from India under the extradition treaty, Home Adviser Lt Gen (retd.) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said on Wednesday.

Hasina, 77, has been living in India since August 5 last year when she fled Bangladesh following a massive student-led protest that toppled her Awami League's 16-year regime.

Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has issued arrest warrants for Hasina and several former Cabinet ministers, advisers, and military and civil officials for "crimes against humanity and genocide".

"We are trying to bring back those who are under trial on charges of crimes against humanity at the ICT," Chowdhury was quoted as saying by state-run BSS news agency.

He made the remarks while replying to a question on steps taken by the government to arrest over 100 accused against whom the ICT has issued arrest warrant.

Last year, Dhaka sent a diplomatic note to New Delhi seeking the extradition of Hasina.

The Home Adviser said they are arresting those staying in the country while efforts are on to bring back others who are staying abroad.

"We're arresting those who are staying in the country. The main person (Hasina) is not in the country. How we would arrest them who are abroad?" he said, adding that legal efforts are going on to bring them back.

When asked about the progress of issuing red notices against them, police chief Baharul Alam said he hoped that Interpol would soon issue notice against the persons wanted by the ICT.

"As the red notice has been issued by the ICT, the host country is liable to arrest them,” he said.

The interim government has already revoked the passports of Hasina and 96 others over their alleged involvement in enforced disappearances and the July killings.

In December, Bangladesh officially sought Hasina’s repatriation to stand trial on charges of mass killings during the Anti-Discrimination Student’s Movement dubbed as the July-August uprising.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, originally formed to try the hardened collaborators of atrocities of Pakistani troops during its 1971 Liberation War, so far has issued two arrest warrants ordering authorities to arrest her and ensure her court appearance by February 12 as she was also accused of enforced disappearances during the past 16-year rule.

Meanwhile, the High Court on Wednesday acquitted all 47 people convicted in a case filed over an attack on a train carrying Hasina, the then-leader of the opposition, in Ishwardi on September 23, 1994, the news agency reported.

A bench of Justices Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam and Md Hamidur Rahman pronounced the judgment after hearing the convicts' death references and jail appeals.

Terming the lower court judgment inhuman, the High Court ordered the immediate release of the acquitted people.

The lower court had sentenced nine people to death, 25 people to life imprisonment and 13 others to 10 years in jail.

Hasina was travelling from Khulna to Syedpur via train when it was attacked with crude bombs and gunshots. Police filed a charge sheet against 52 Bangladesh Nationalist Party activists on April 4, 1997.