BNP to push for Hasina's extradition from India: Salahuddin
This is a matter between the foreign ministries of Bangladesh and India, he says
BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed and MP-elect from Cox's Bazar-1, has said the party will formally request India to extradite ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh to face trial, according to media reports.
Speaking to reporters in front of BNP's Gulshan office this afternoon (13 February), Salahuddin said, "We will press for her extradition in accordance with the law. This is a matter between the foreign ministries of Bangladesh and India. We will urge the Indian government to send her back to face trial."
The BNP has won an absolute majority in the 13th national election and is set to form the next government.
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Sheikh Hasina fled to India with her sister Sheikh Rehana on 5 August 2024 in the face of a mass uprising led by students. She has been in India since then.
The Bangladesh government has repeatedly urged the government of India to extradite Hasina. However, India refrained from commenting on Hasina's extradition request.
On 17 November last year, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentenced Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for crimes against humanity committed during 2024 July Uprising.
Following the verdict, Bangladesh once again urged India to immediately hand over fugitive convicts Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, stressing that the step is India's treaty-bound obligation.
The extradition of Hasina would fall under the legal framework of the 2013 extradition treaty between Bangladesh and India, which was amended in 2016. While the treaty allows for the refusal of extradition if the charges are of a political nature, it explicitly excludes crimes such as murder from being considered political.
