The Bangladesh government claimed to have sent “necessary documents” to Delhi on Saturday to bring back former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina under the prisoner exchange agreement between the two countries.
“The required documents have been sent to the Indian government under the prisoner exchange agreement to facilitate Sheikh Hasina’s return. The diplomatic correspondence has been sent based on both political and diplomatic decisions,” said Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Rafiqul Alam.
Referring to Dhaka’s communication with Delhi, Alam said, “Bangladesh will wait for a political and diplomatic resolution.”
According to sources in the Union government’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India is yet to respond to Dhaka’s message related to Hasina’s extradition.
Reacting to Bangladesh government’s stance on bringing back other leaders of the Awami League, the erstwhile ruling party of India’s eastern neighbor, Alam said, “The repatriation of others leaders currently in India will depend on compliance with international regulations, which is a matter for high-level government discussions.”
The bureaucrat also made it clear that Dhaka has not yet shared the findings of the recently published United Nation’s (UN) report ON 1,400 killings during the July uprising.
On December 23, Bangladesh government sent India a note verbal seeking the repatriation of Hasina. The verbal has not yet received a response from the Union government.
In January, India extended Hasina’s visa, turning down Dhaka’s request to extradite her.
The MEA officials in Delhi said Bangladesh’s demand for Hasina’s extradition is a legal issue, not diplomatic.
“If an interim government of a country, not an elected government, seeks extradition of a political personality, we will have to analyse all legal aspects. We will have to see whether Bangladesh’s interim government has any locus standi to make a repatriation request,” said an official of the MEA.
According to international law, even with an extradition treaty in place, a country is not always bound to send back a person. Extradition treaties typically outline the conditions under which one country will transfer a person to another country to face trial or serve a sentence.
There are some reasons that can lead a country to refuse the extradition of someone, even if there's a treaty. The reasons include if the crime is considered a political offense and if the requesting country doesn't provide sufficient evidence to support the extradition request. Ultimately, the decision to extradite someone is often subject to the discretion of the country's authorities and courts.
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