Dhaka has rejected ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's request for a new passport and national identity card in her bid to return home from exile in India, as officials said the former leader, being a convict, has no legal option to obtain those documents.
Chief Prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Md Aminul Islam said on Tuesday that the government has no legal scope to issue a passport or travel pass to a death-row convict.
Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by the ICT in November last year for crimes against humanity committed during the brutal handling of the 2024 student-led mass uprising that ousted her.
The Chief Prosecutor said Hasina's return to the country can only take place under the provisions of the bilateral extradition treaty signed between Bangladesh and India in 2013.
"Sheikh Hasina is a death-row convict sentenced by the ICT for crimes against humanity. There is no legal scope under existing passport laws to issue a passport to a convicted fugitive," Islam said in Dhaka.
Dissecting the legal framework governing travel documentation, Islam highlighted Articles 6 and 7 of the Bangladesh Passport Order 1973 as insurmountable legal barriers.
He said under Article 6 of the Order, passport authorities are explicitly barred from issuing a passport to any person who has been convicted of an offense and sentenced to imprisonment for a minimum term of two years, within five years prior to the application.
Article 7 empowers the government to impound or revoke the passport of any individual convicted of an offense involving moral turpitude, he said, adding that "crimes against humanity" fall squarely under the definition of moral turpitude.
Accordingly, the government of Bangladesh has already revoked her passport. Under the law, passport authorities possess no legal jurisdiction or discretion to issue a passport to a convicted offender, he said.
He said the constitution allows free movement (to and from the country) of ordinary citizens. It does not apply to absconding convicts.
This right cannot be claimed by an individual who fled the country prior to trial and remains a fugitive from justice, he said.
The former prime minister has reportedly applied for her passport and national identity card through a British-based law firm at Bangladesh's mission in New Delhi on Monday.
Hasina has been living in New Delhi since she left the country by an army aircraft on August 5, 2024, amid the violent uprising.
Aminul Islam said Hasina initiated her life as a fugitive prior to the delivery of the verdict in the case. She evaded arrest warrants, ignored formal notices published in national newspapers, and deliberately abstained from participating in judicial proceedings.
He pointed out that following the publication of the tribunal's judgment, she failed to file an appeal within the statutory 30-day window, thereby exhausting her legal avenues for appeal.
"Issuing a passport or travel pass to a convicted fugitive on behalf of the state would amount to making a mockery of the judicial process," he said.
Turning to the former prime minister's current presence in India, the Chief Prosecutor dismissed recent claims regarding her return as mere political posturing.
He noted that the Indian government had publicly stated that Hasina was granted shelter on humanitarian grounds following her approach. However, he expressed deep skepticism regarding her genuine willingness to face Bangladesh's legal system.
"If Sheikh Hasina genuinely intended to return to Bangladesh, she would have officially submitted a written request to the Indian government," Aminul Islam stated.
"To date, we have no knowledge of any such written request being submitted to Indian authorities. We have no hesitation in stating that she has no sincere desire to return."
Her return can only be executed through the formal framework of the Extradition Treaty, the Chief Prosecutor said.
