KESHAV PADMANABHAN
New Delhi: Bangladesh’s interim government announced Sunday that it had sought a Red Notice from Interpol for former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and others accused of being behind killings during the violent student protests in July and August.
“A Red Notice will be issued through Interpol soon. No matter where in the world these fascists are hiding, they will be brought back to be held accountable in court,” Asif Nazrul, the interim government’s law affairs adviser, told the media.
Without naming Hasina, Nazrul said the “fugitive fascists” were “accused” of killings and genocide during the student-led protests that began after the High Court in June reintroduced 30 percent quotas for families of veterans from the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.
The protests that began over the ruling cancelling a 2018 government order scrapping the quotas eventually turned violent and led to Hasina’s ouster. A new interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was then formed.
The interim government alleged that at least 753 Bangladeshis were killed and thousands injured following the repressive actions taken by Hasina to put down the protesters.
The former Bangladeshi prime minister had fled to India on 5 August and has been living in a safe house in New Delhi with a strong security detail since then, as exclusively reported by ThePrint earlier.
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) issued an arrest warrant against the 77-year-old Hasina on 17 October, citing the interim government’s allegations of her involvement in the mass killings of student protesters.
The ICT had given the government till 18 November to bring Hasina before the court. Over 60 complaints have been filed against Hasina and other members of her Awami League party, alleging enforced disappearances, murder and mass killings.
A Red Notice is not an international arrest warrant. Interpol or the International Crime Police Organisation, which is headquartered in France, says on its website that Red Notices are issued at the request of a member country to locate and provisionally arrest a person “pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action”.
Interpol issues Red Notices for people, who are “wanted” by a requesting member country or an international tribunal. Interpol member states apply their own laws to decide whether the individual should be arrested or not. India has been a member of the organisation since 1949.
Nazrul’s comments come a day after Awami League member and former Sylhet mayor Anwaruzzaman Chowdhury‘s social media post that he had filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser of the interim government, and 61 others of crimes against humanity.
“We have submitted all the facts and evidence to the ICC, detailing the severity of the violence and the coordinated attacks,” Chowdhury said Saturday.
Nazrul dismissed the application by Chowdhury during an interaction with the press, adding that any individual can file a petition with the ICC, but that didn’t mean a case had been opened.
source : theprint