Dhaka: Bangladesh has ruled out issuing a new
passport to Sheikh Hasina after her lawyers approached Dhaka's diplomatic
mission in New Delhi from London seeking the travel document and a National
Identity Card for the former prime minister. "Bangladesh does not issue
passports to terrorists," Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Humaiun
Kobir told reporters in Dhaka.
Hasina's application for the documents came
amid her plans to return to Bangladesh in December, where the 79-year-old faces
a death sentence. Kobir said there was no scope to consider Hasina an ordinary
traveller given the cases against her, and underlined that Bangladesh had sent
multiple letters to India seeking her extradition. "She is a fugitive
criminal. We have an active extradition treaty with India. We want her handed
over," he said.
Bangladesh's war crimes court sentenced
Hasina to death in November last year in absentia for allegedly ordering a
deadly crackdown on the 2024 student-led uprising that ousted her. Hasina has
denied the charges from her self-imposed exile in India, where she has lived
since fleeing Bangladesh in August 2024. Her existing passport and identity
card were revoked by the interim administration led by Muhammad Yunus.
Hasina has told Reuters she plans to return to Bangladesh and surrender before a court, and her aides said the date would be announced once formalities were completed. In a social media post, her Awami League party said Hasina wanted to return to face the legal proceedings against her. Bangladesh chief prosecutor Md Aminul Islam, however, said: "She will not return... these activities are political posturing."
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