A Bangladeshi court has issued an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August after being driven from power by massive protests.
Hasina is wanted by Bangladesh's International Criminal Tribunal (ICTY) for her alleged involvement in “crimes against humanity” committed during the protests, during which hundreds of people were killed.
Hasina, who ruled Bangladesh for more than 20 years, was seen as an autocrat whose government ruthlessly suppressed dissent.
Arrest warrants have also been issued for 45 other people, including former government ministers who also fled the country.
“The court has… ordered the arrest of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her appearance in court on November 18,” Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of the ICT, told reporters on Thursday.
“Sheikh Hasina was at the head of those who committed massacres, murders and crimes against humanity between July and August,” he added.
Bangladesh's acting health ministry said in August that more than 1,000 people had been killed in this summer's violence after student-led protests against government employment quotas turned into protests. mass, making it the bloodiest period in the country's history since its independence in 1971.
Hasina, 77, has not been seen in public since fleeing Bangladesh. Its last official location is a military airbase near Delhi, the Indian capital.
Initially, she was expected to stay in India for a short period, but reports indicate that her attempts to seek asylum elsewhere have so far failed.
Its continued presence in India poses a challenge to Delhi in working with the new caretaker government in Dhaka. Many people in Bangladesh are angered by the fact that she was hosted by India.
Bangladesh's new caretaker government revoked her diplomatic passport and the two countries signed a bilateral extradition treaty that would allow her to return and face criminal trial.
A clause in the treaty, however, specifies that extradition could be refused if the offense is of a “political character”.
The Hasina government established the ICT in 2010 to investigate atrocities committed during the war with Pakistan, which gave Bangladesh its independence in 1971.
The United Nations and rights groups criticized her procedural shortcomings and it became widely seen as a way for Hasina to eliminate her political opponents.
The court, reconstituted by the interim government, began its work on Thursday. Critics say there is a lack of judges with experience in international law.
Several cases accusing Hasina of orchestrating the “mass murder” of protesters are being investigated by the court.
Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed said his mother was ready to stand trial. “My mother did nothing wrong,” he told the Reuters news agency last month.
