Dhaka awaits India's reply on Hasina extradition

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain on Wednesday said Bangladesh expects an answer from India on its latest request seeking the extradition of convicted disposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, though a response is not anticipated within a week of the submission.

"I do not expect that they will answer within a week of Dhaka's request, but we expect we will get an answer," he said while speaking to reporters at the foreign ministry in Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon, BSS reports.

The Adviser said Dhaka had formally written to New Delhi through the Bangladesh High Commission following the recent verdict of the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1).

Hossain clarified that Bangladesh was not ruling out a reply from India, but it was simply not expecting one within seven days.
The latest note verbale, an official diplomatic communication, was sent to India's Ministry of External Affairs through the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi.

On November 17, the ICT-1 sentenced Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for crimes against humanity committed during the July-August mass uprising last year. Former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who testified as a state witness, was sentenced to five years in prison.

Following the verdict last week, Adviser Touhid announced that Dhaka would formally seek the repatriation of the fugitive convicts. "We will officially communicate our position to India. Whether the letter goes tonight or tomorrow, it will certainly go," he said at the time.

Responding to a question on Wednesday, he reiterated that Bangladesh had earlier asked India for Hasina's return but received no reply. "Now the situation is different … the judicial process has been completed and they have been convicted," he said.

The Adviser confirmed that Bangladesh's request has been placed under the existing extradition treaty between the two neighbouring countries.