Bangladesh court issues arrest warrant for ex-PM over deaths of protesters

A special court in Bangladesh has issued arrest warrants for former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and 45 others, including her close aides, on charges of crimes against humanity during a student-led uprising that forced her to flee the country, a prosecutor said.

Prosecutor BM Sultan Mahmud said the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal had issued the arrest warrants in response to two petitions submitted by the prosecution.

He said the head of the tribunal, Golam Mortuza Majumdar, issued the orders in the presence of other judges.

“The tribunal first accepted our petition that involved Sheikh Hasina alone. Then we moved our second petition against 45 people that involved her close aides and others for the crimes against humanity. It was also accepted by the tribunal,” he said.

There was no immediate reaction from Ms Hasina’s Bangladesh Awami League party.

Ms Hasina fled to India on August 5 after weeks of violent protests over government job quotas in which hundreds of people died.

Prosecutors said in the petitions that Ms Hasina, her close aides and security agencies were responsible for killing the protesters and others.

It is not clear if India will respond to any request from Bangladesh for Ms Hasina’s extradition under a mutual treaty.

The tribunal’s chief prosecutor, Muhammad Tajul Islam, said earlier that they would seek help from Interpol, if necessary, to get Ms Hasina back.

Ms Hasina faces more than 100 cases including ones filed on charges of crimes against humanity.

Bangladesh’s foreign affairs adviser Touhid Hossain said the government would “try and take necessary steps” to bring Ms Hasina back, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported.

The Yunus-led interim government has promised to try Ms Hasina and others in her administration for alleged crimes involving the uprising against her and has invited the United Nations to help investigate the killings.

Ms Hasina also called for investigation as she questioned the killings, saying many deaths may have involved others beyond security agencies.

Authorities say more than 750 people were killed and thousands more injured during the mass uprising.

The new government has reconstituted the prosecution team and the judges’ panel since taking power.

Mr Islam, the newly appointed chief prosecutor, was the lead lawyer of a panel that dealt with the cases of the leaders of the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami party involving charges of crimes against humanity during the country’s independence war against Pakistan in 1971.