The government will do everything possible legally to bring former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina home to face justice, a senior minister said on Sunday.
"Whatever needs to be done legally regarding Sheikh Hasina, we are doing it through due process. We will deal with it lawfully," Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman told reporters after in Dhaka.
Hasina has been in exile in India since she left Bangladesh by an army aircraft on August 5, 2024, in the face of a mass uprising. Her ouster brought an end to her 15 years of controversial rule.
The ousted Prime Minister, in many interviews with foreign media outlets, has said she would return home at "any cost." She was convicted of crimes against humanity in a case related to the brutal handling of the mass uprising and was sentenced to death last year by a special court in Dhaka.
"When we take any step, there is no element of emotion here. The thing is, I will apply my law," Asaduzzaman said in response to a question from a journalist.
He said Bangladesh has requested India to extradite Hasina under an agreement signed between the two countries earlier.
"If they hand her over to us, we will bring her under the law through due process in the manner required," the minister said.
Another journalist said that to India, Hasina is not a prisoner but rather a state guest. In response, the minister said, "To me, she is a criminal. A criminal sentenced by our tribunal. That is her identity to us."
How India views her is their matter, he said. "That is what they are saying—saying it doesn't make it so. In my state, there has been a trial in an open court."
The minister said, "When you are asking this question, then think first—did 1,400 people not die in the July mass uprising? Were 30,000 people not wounded? Has there been any shortfall in ensuring justice? Did we conduct a camera trial in the judicial process? Did the witnesses not testify?"
