Law Minister: ‘How She Returns Is Her Problem, Not Mine’

Law Minister Md. Asaduzzaman has said that it is not the government's responsibility to determine how former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would return to Bangladesh, responding to questions about reports that she does not have a passport.

Speaking to reporters at an event at the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs at the Secretariat on Thursday, the minister said, “How she comes is her problem. It is not my problem.”

Referring to Sheikh Hasina’s reported intention to return to Bangladesh in December, the minister said that once she enters the country’s jurisdiction, the authorities will act strictly in accordance with the law.

“When she comes within our jurisdiction, I will exercise the authority that the law has given me. We will enforce the law as required,” he said.

Responding to questions about the government's efforts to bring Sheikh Hasina back to Bangladesh, the minister said it was incorrect to assume that no action was being taken.

“How do you know whether the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is trying to secure her extradition or not? It is certainly making efforts,” he said.

The minister added that any Bangladeshi citizen, including a person sentenced to death, has the legal right to return to Bangladesh and surrender before the authorities.

“Even if someone is a death-row convict, if they are a Bangladeshi citizen and wish to return to Bangladesh and surrender in accordance with the law, they have that right. They may be arrested even before they can formally surrender,” he said.

He stressed that the government would not deviate from the law in handling the matter.

“If she returns, the law will take its own course. We will not do anything outside the framework of the law. We will exercise only the authority that the law has vested in us,” the minister said.