Bangladesh ousted PM Sheikh Hasina faces extradition demands from Opposition party as legal cases mount

The main opposition party of Bangladesh has asked India to extradite ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to face trial for alleged crimes while she held the office.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Aug 20 asked India to “hand her over to the government of Bangladesh in a legal way.”

“It is our call to you that you should hand her over to the government of Bangladesh in a legal way,” Mirza Fakhrul said, as reported by The Daily Star.

"India is seemingly not keeping its commitment towards democracy by providing her shelter", news agency PTI quoted him as claiming.

“The people of this country have decided to conduct her trial. Let her face that trial," Fakhrul said.

“Staying there, she has started various plots to thwart the revolution that happened in Bangladesh,” he further said.

As many as four complaints have been filed with the International Crimes Tribunal accusing her of committing crimes against humanity.

Bangladesh’s ICT is investigating the charges of genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with the anti-government protests in the country.

Of the four cases, three are connected to the recent violence centering on the quota reform movement.

Hasina is also facing eight more cases, which were filed against the Awami League chairperson on Aug 20 across the country, accusing her of killings committed during the recent protests, a Daily Star report said.

The 76-year-old deposed former PM is now facing 31 cases, including 26 on charges of murder, four on charges of crimes against humanity and genocide and one for abduction, it added.

According to the report, Hasina's son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul and sister Sheikh Rehana have also been named as co-accused in a killing case for the first time.

Before Hasina's ouster, the country witnessed month-long deadly student protests against a government job quota policy that later became a nationwide movement against her rule of nearly 16 years.

Over 600 people have been killed in the protests and further incidents of violence after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.

Hasina unexpectedly resigned and fled to India on Aug 5 after huge crowds of protesters stormed her residence in Dhaka.

Following the fall of the Awami League government, an interim government has been formed headed by 84-year-old Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

She is currently in New Delhi in a secure location, according to the Indian government and the leaders’ relatives.