Bangladesh’s government has written a letter to India seeking the extradition of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina after she was sentenced to death by the International Criminal Tribunal (ICT) for crimes against humanity, AFP reported.
In a statement on November 23, the Bangladeshi government said it had asked India to extradite the 78-year-old leader, who has fled the country and is in hiding in India since the ouster of its autocratic government in August 2024.
“Request letter sent”
Touhid Hossain, who holds foreign affairs in Bangladesh’s interim administration, told reporters that on Friday “we have sent a letter requesting the extradition of Sheikh Hasina”.
He did not elaborate on the contents of the letter, which was the third official extradition request since Hasina’s escape, according to Bengali newspaper Prothom Alo.
Following Monday’s court verdict that convicted Hasina of crimes against humanity and sentenced her to death, the foreign ministry in Dhaka said in a statement that Delhi had a “compulsory responsibility” under a bilateral treaty to facilitate the former leader’s return.
In response, India’s foreign ministry said it had “noted” the verdict, without directly commenting on the extradition request.
She did not immediately reply to the last letter from Dhaka.
Bangladesh student uprising: 1,400 dead in Hasina crackdown
Bangladesh has been mired in political chaos since the end of Hasina’s rule, and the election campaign expected in February 2026 has been marred by violence.
The United Nations says up to 1,400 people have been killed in the crackdown as Hasina tried to hang on to power, a death that has been central to her trial.
India’s past support for Hasina has strained relations between the two neighbors since her ouster, an AFP report said.
She added that tensions appeared to have eased slightly when Bangladesh’s National Security Adviser Khalilur Rahman visited India this week for a regional security summit and met his counterpart Ajit Doval.
Media in Bangladesh reported that Rahman had invited Doval to visit.
