No legal basis for issuing passport to Sheikh Hasina: ICT Chief Prosecutor

The Chief Prosecutor of Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), Muhammad Aminul Islam, said that the government has no legal right to issue a passport or travel document to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Madam Hasina has been sentenced to death and is currently residing in India. Speaking to reporters at the ICT premises on Tuesday, he said, "If she wants to return to Bangladesh, she will have to return under the extradition treaty."

Answering questions regarding the ongoing debate over issuing a passport or travel permit to Madam Hasina, Aminul Islam cited Articles 6 and 7 of the Bangladesh Passport Order, 1973. He said that these provisions impose a ban on doing so.

Under Article 6, passport officers cannot issue a passport to any person who has been convicted of an offence and sentenced to at least two years of imprisonment within five years prior to the application. Meanwhile, Article 7 gives the government the authority to seize or cancel the passport of a person convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude.

The Chief Prosecutor said, "Crimes against humanity fall entirely under the category of moral turpitude." He stated that Madam Hasina's passport has already been cancelled. He also argued that a fugitive accused who evades the case cannot be granted the benefits of the right to freedom of movement under the Constitution. Mr. Aminul Islam said that Madam Hasina ignored the arrest warrant and court notices published in newspapers and did not participate in the tribunal's proceedings. He said she did not file an appeal against the tribunal's verdict within the prescribed 30-day period. He stated that issuing a passport or travel document to Madam Hasina would weaken the judicial process.

Regarding Madam Hasina's stay in India, the Chief Prosecutor said that the Government of India has stated that she has been granted asylum on humanitarian grounds. He said his office has no information about any formal written request in which Madam Hasina has asked Indian authorities to allow her to return to Bangladesh.

Mr. Aminul Islam said that if Madam Hasina truly wanted to return to Bangladesh, she could have faced the case or surrendered within the 30-day appeal period. He dismissed the recent debate over her possible return as a political show and reiterated that she can only return to Bangladesh through the formal extradition process.