Sheikh Hasina Will Be Arrested on Return, No Scope for Surrender: Shama Obaed

Former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina has no legal scope to surrender and will be arrested as soon as she returns to the country, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam said on Thursday.

Shama Obaed Islam made the remarks while responding to questions from journalists at a press briefing held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The statement came after Hasina said in a recent telephone interview with Reuters that she wanted to return to Bangladesh in December and surrender before the court.

“Those who have already been sentenced will be brought back to the country and the sentence will be carried out on the country’s soil. The people of Bangladesh want to see that. We have said this multiple times—the Prime Minister and the Law Minister have stated what the legal process is,” the state minister said.

“As the sentence has already been passed, there is legally no scope for an accused person to surrender. Whenever she comes to the country, she will be arrested. Our goal is to bring her back through the extradition treaty,” Shama Obaed Islam added.

On efforts to bring Hasina back to Bangladesh, the state minister said India’s political and diplomatic goodwill would be necessary to return the convicted Sheikh Hasina to the country.

“She is in Delhi as a fugitive, and she has no status there. As she has no passport or travel document, she will obviously take photo identification documents,” the state minister said.

Asked about the prime minister’s foreign visits, Shama Obaed Islam said no new tour dates had been fixed for any country.

“The Prime Minister has recently returned from two countries. Other country visits will take place in phases,” the state minister said.

On the Rohingya crisis, the state minister said the issue would be raised more strongly at the upcoming United Nations session to seek a solution.

“The Rohingya problem has been kept alive and allowed to deepen over 17 years. Discussions are continuing through government and non-government channels, as well as diplomatic and non-diplomatic channels,” she said.