Bangladesh challenges ousted PM Hasina to seek extradition as she requests new passport

Why This Matters

Key context: <p>Bangladesh challenged on Monday <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1850245">ousted</a> leader Sheikh Hasina to seek extradition from India if she was serious about returning home, while reviewing an application to renew her passport.</p> <p>Hasina, whose 15-year rule was ended by a <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1850383">mass uprising</a> she tried to crush, has vowed to return in December to Bangladesh, where she was <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1955627">sentenced to death</a> for crimes against humanity over the 2024 <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1850079">crackdown</a> on protesters.</p> <p>Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed told reporters on Monday that authorities were looking into Hasina’s request for a new passport, adding that she was a convicted offender who had taken refuge abroad.</p> <p>“The legal basis of the application, whether it followed due process, and whether there is a right to apply for a passport — all those matters are being reviewed,” he said.</p> <p>“We had already sent a letter to that country (India) seeking her extradition through due process,” he added.</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven' data-original-src='https://www.dawn.com/news/1955643'> <div class='media__item media__item--newskitlink '> <iframe class="nk-iframe" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="height:250px;position:relative" src="https://www.dawn.com/news/card/1955643" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms"></iframe></div> </figure> <p>Hasina’s British lawyers have requested to renew her documents after the “reported revocation” of her passport.</p> <p>A letter by law firm Matrix Chambers, addressed to Bangladesh’s high commission in New Delhi and seen by <em>AFP</em>, requested her passport renewal — but made no mention of when or where she planned to travel.</p> <p>Md Aminul Islam, chief prosecutor of the court that sentenced Hasina to death in November 2025, dismissed the application as “nothing but a political stunt”.</p> <p>Hasina has said several times she intends to return, telling <em>AFP</em> in an email that she was “fully aware” she faced being hanged.</p> <p>She has told <em>Reuters</em> she plans to return to surrender before a court, and her aides said on Monday the date would be announced once various formalities were completed.</p> <p>Humaiun Kobir, Bangladesh’s junior foreign minister, said she should simply surrender herself to face justice.</p> <p>“Let her tell India: ‘Yes, there is an extradition treaty. Please hand me over. I killed this many people, and I am ready to face the sentence. Please execute me there’,” he told reporters.</p> <p>“She is a thief, a bandit and a terrorist who fled… How could she, having fled, want to come back?”</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven' data-original-src='https://www.youtube.com/shorts/fsWEv5LmG9w'> <div class='media__item media__item--youtube_short media__item--relative'> <div style="position: relative; aspect-ratio: 9 / 16; overflow: hidden; max-width: 360px; margin: auto"> <iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fsWEv5LmG9w?enablejsapi=1&controls=1&modestbranding=1&rel=0" style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; border: 0;" loading="lazy" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen ></iframe> </div></div> </figure> <h2><a id="trying-to-create-panic" href="#trying-to-create-panic" class="heading-permalink" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1" title="Permalink"></a>‘Trying to create panic’</h2> <p>Hasina <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1850245#:~:text=Ousted%20Hasina%20arrives%20at%20military%20base%20near%20Delhi%2C%20Indian%20media%20says">fled</a> to old ally India in 2024, and has not been seen in public since but has taken part in online news conferences by telephone.</p> <p>She was convicted and sentenced in absentia.</p> <p>Her continued presence in India has strained ties between Dhaka and New Delhi, which says the extradition request is under legal review.</p> <figure class='media w-full w-full media-- media--embed media--uneven' data-original-src='https://www.dawn.com/news/2020541'> <div class='media__item media__item--newskitlink '> <iframe class="nk-iframe" width="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="height:250px;position:relative" src="https://www.dawn.com/news/card/2020541" sandbox="allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-popups allow-modals allow-forms"></iframe></div> </figure> <p>The government of <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1972259">Tarique Rahman</a>, whose party <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1973874">won elections</a> in February in which Hasina’s Awami League was <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1951958">barred</a> from contesting, has said it would ensure the former prime minister receives due legal process in all cases against her should she return.</p> <p>“In view of the reported revocation of her existing Bangladeshi passport and National Identity Card (NID) by the interim government and other authorities, I respectfully request that you take the necessary steps to issue a new Bangladeshi passport and national identity card for our client,” Hasina’s lawyers at London-based Matrix Chambers wrote to Preeti Rahman, acting high commissioner at Bangladesh’s embassy in Delhi.</p> <p>The letter asked for the applications to be processed “expeditiously” on the basis of her Bangladeshi nationality and in accordance with “obligations arising under international human rights instruments”.</p> <p>But Hasina’s pledge to return presents a political challenge for Rahman’s government.</p> <p>Many Bangladeshis want to see her hanged, while others fear her return could galvanise her former supporters and trigger a fresh confrontation between rival camps.</p> <p>Police on Monday said they had arrested 12 people for a series of petrol bomb attacks, including against property, an empty bus and police vehicles this month, without causing any casualties.</p> <p>Dhaka police spokesman Md Akhtar Hossain said the suspects were members of Hasina’s banned Awami League party.</p> <p>“They are trying to create panic among people,” he told <em>AFP</em>. “We are remaining vigilant to deal with any untoward situation.”</p> This development from dawn.com highlights ongoing changes in the sector.