Bangladesh Rejects Sheikh Hasina’s Passport Application to Return Home

DHAKA: Bangladeshi authorities have rejected exiled former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s application for a passport and identity card to enable her return from India, insisting instead that she must be extradited to face the death sentence, reported German news agency dpa.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Chief Prosecutor Aminul Islam said the country’s passport laws do not permit passports to be issued to individuals who evade judicial proceedings or are classified as fugitives.

“Under passport laws, an accused person who evades judicial proceedings or remains a fugitive cannot be issued a passport,” he said in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Islam said Hasina could only be legally brought back through the extradition process under an agreement signed between Bangladesh and India in 2013.

The ICT sentenced Hasina to death in November last year for crimes against humanity committed during the 2024 popular uprising that ended her 15-year rule.

Hasina, 79, has been living in India since fleeing Bangladesh aboard a military aircraft on August 5, 2024.

According to United Nations (UN) estimates, violence during the uprising claimed 1,400 lives and left thousands more injured.

India’s Hindustan Times newspaper reported that Hasina’s London-based lawyer had sent a letter to the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi requesting a new passport and identity card.

According to the newspaper, the application represents the clearest indication yet of Hasina’s determination to fulfil her intention of returning to her homeland.

Hasina had previously told party leaders and activists during several recent online meetings that she would return to Bangladesh by any means necessary.

However, Islam said Hasina had already been classified as a fugitive before her conviction.

“An arrest warrant was issued to bring her back, and notices were also published in newspapers. She has evaded judicial proceedings,” he said.

BERNAMA