Bangladesh tribunal issues second arrest warrant for former PM Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh’s International Criminal Tribunal on Monday issued a warrant for the arrest of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 11 others, including former military generals and an ex-police chief, for their alleged role in enforced disappearances, PTI reported.

This is the second warrant the tribunal has issued against the deposed prime minister.

Hasina fled to India on August 5 after widespread student-led protests against her Awami League government. She had been the prime minister of Bangladesh for 16 years.

Nobel laureate economist Muhammad Yunus took over as the head of Bangladesh’s interim government on August 8.

Following this, the International Criminal Tribunal registered three cases against her.

The first warrant was issued on October 17 against Hasina and 45 others on charges of committing crimes against humanity during the protests against her Awami League government between July 15 and August 5.

On Monday, PTI quoted an unidentified official of the tribunal as saying that Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mojumdar, who is the chairman of the court, issued the second warrant in connection with the enforced disappearances after hearing a prosecution petition.

An enforced disappearance refers to the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of the rights of an person by a country. It also entails a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of rights or concealment of the…

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