Bangladesh's Ousted PM Sheikh Hasina Seeks New Passport Ahead of Planned December Return to Surrender in Court
NEW DELHI — Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday requested a new passport and national identity card from Bangladesh's diplomatic mission in India so she can return from self-imposed exile, according to a letter seen by Reuters. It is her first such communication since she fled in 2024, and the clearest step yet toward acting on her plan to return to Bangladesh in December and surrender before a court, more than two years after a deadly uprising ended her long rule.
Her lawyers at London-based Matrix Chambers wrote to Preeti Rahman, acting high commissioner at Bangladesh's mission in Delhi, saying Hasina's existing Bangladeshi passport and National Identity Card had reportedly been revoked by the interim government and other authorities, and asking that new documents be issued expeditiously on the basis of her Bangladeshi nationality and in accordance with obligations under international human rights instruments. Hasina has told Reuters 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. Rahman and spokespeople for Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in Dhaka did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A death sentence hangs over any return: Bangladesh's war-crimes court sentenced Hasina to death in absentia in November last year for ordering a deadly crackdown on the student-led uprising, and a UN human rights report estimated that nearly 1,400 people were killed during the 2024 protests and crackdown. She has denied the charges from exile. Her Awami League, once the country's largest party, has been banned since her fall, and many of her party colleagues have been jailed or are in self-imposed exile in India or elsewhere.
Dhaka's position frames her return as an extradition matter: Bangladeshi media reported that State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir said on November 5 that a court warrant is in force and a bilateral extradition treaty exists, so there is no need to issue her a passport or travel document, and that Bangladesh would pursue her handover through judicial and diplomatic channels. Interior Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said India has neither agreed to hand her over nor explicitly refused, and that the request is under legal review. India's sheltering of Hasina has strained ties with Dhaka; Reuters notes that a return could sharpen political divisions in Bangladesh, while also bearing on the two neighbours' relations. (Source: Reuters)
Source: Reuters
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：孟加拉国前总理谢赫·哈西娜2024年3月在达卡出席活动（资料图）。孟加拉国新闻信息部，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at an event in Dhaka in March 2024 (file photo). Press Information Department, Bangladesh, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
