India faces pressure from Bangladesh to extradite Sheikh Hasina over her ‘atrocities’
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus has demanded the return of ex-PM Sheikh Hasina from India or the people of Bangladesh ‘won’t be at peace’
Hasina fled to India by helicopter on August 5 as student-led protests toppled her 15-year rule marked by widespread accusations of election rigging to maintain her hold on power and human rights violations such as extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.
On Thursday, Muhammad Yunus, the head of Bangladesh’s interim government, said the country’s people were demanding the return of Hasina to face justice.
“She has to be brought back or else the people of Bangladesh won’t be at peace. The kind of atrocities she has committed, she has to be tried in front of everyone here,” Yunus said in an interview with the Press Trust of India news agency.
He was referring to a statement by Hasina on August 13 that she issued from India in which she demanded “justice” over the recent “terror acts” in Bangladesh, with the former prime minister saying those involved in the killings and vandalism must be punished.
However, Bangladesh’s opposition and activists had alleged previously that police and armed supporters of Hasina’s ruling Awami League party shot many demonstrators, killing hundreds and injuring thousands, during anti-government protests from July to August.