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A Bangladeshi court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for the country’s former leader Sheikh Hasina, who has been in exile since fleeing to India in August following her ousting by a student-led revolution.
Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam called the warrant a “remarkable day”, while a relative of one of the hundreds persons who died in the uprising against Hasina’s autocratic rule said they were “looking forward” to the trial.
Hasina’s 15-year rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.
“The court has ordered the arrest of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and to produce her in court on November 18,” Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters.
“Sheikh Hasina was at the helm of those who committed massacres, killings and crimes against humanity in July to August”, he added.
The court also issued an arrest warrant for the fugitive former general secretary of Hasina’s Awami League party, Obaidul Quader, as well as 44 others, who were not named.
Dozens of Hasina’s allies were taken into custody after her regime collapsed, accused of culpability in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that deposed her.
Former cabinet ministers and other senior members of her Awami League party have been arrested, and her government’s appointees were purged from courts and the central bank.
Hasina, however, has not been seen in public since fleeing Bangladesh by helicopter.
The 77-year-old’s last official whereabouts were at a military airbase near India’s capital New Delhi.
Her presence in India, her former biggest benefactor has infuriated the new interim government in Bangladesh.
Dhaka has revoked her diplomatic passport, and the countries have a bilateral extradition treaty that would permit her to return to face criminal trial.
A clause in the treaty, however, says extradition might be refused if the offence is of a “political character”.
Among those in court were family members of Sajib Sarkar, a medic killed in July during the protests against Hasina.
“We want the government to take the initiative to bring back the former prime minister as soon as possible and hold her accountable,” his sister, Sumaiya Sarkar, told AFP. “We are looking forward to a fair trial.”
Several cases accusing Hasina of orchestrating the “mass murder” of protesters are being probed by the court.
LEADERSHIP recalls that Hasina was replaced by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.
The 84-year-old microfinance pioneer is leading a temporary administration, to tackle what he has called the “extremely tough” challenge of restoring democratic institutions.
Yunus said he had inherited a “completely broken down” system of public administration and justice that needs a comprehensive overhaul to prevent a future return to autocracy.
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