Interpol to Be Notified of Death Sentences for Hasina, Kamal

The prosecution of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) will notify Interpol—through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—regarding the death sentences handed down to fugitive former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal for crimes against humanity.

Prosecutor Gazi M.H. Tamim confirmed the development on Tuesday.

Tamim said the two convicts have only 29 days left to file an appeal against the verdict. After receiving the certified copy of the judgment, it will be forwarded to the District Magistrate and Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun. A fresh request seeking their return will also be submitted to Interpol.

The day after the verdict against Sheikh Hasina, security remained tight around the tribunal premises, with the presence of army, police, and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). Members of the prosecution appeared comparatively relaxed. The three-member bench that delivered the verdict did not sit in the courtroom that day, and a scheduled witness hearing in another case did not take place.

Tamim also said that arrest warrants and sentence warrants for the two fugitive convicts would be sent to Interpol via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an effort to bring them back to the country.
He further noted that observations made in the verdict regarding the Awami League and its affiliated organizations would aid in the trial process.

In addition, the government will determine the legal process for confiscating the assets of Sheikh Hasina and Kamal and distributing them to the families of martyrs and the injured, Tamim said.

Meanwhile, due to the illness of Justice Md. Golam Mortuza Mojumder, Chairman of International Crimes Tribunal–1, copies of the death sentence verdicts for Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal are not being sent today to the Ministry of Home Affairs and other relevant offices.

On Monday, the ICT sentenced Hasina and Kamal to death in a case involving crimes against humanity. State witness Mamun was sentenced to five years in prison. The verdict was delivered by a three-member judicial panel headed by Justice Md. Golam Mortuza Mojumder.