DHAKA: Bangladesh said on Sunday it would request an Interpol “red notice” alert for fugitive leaders of the ousted regime of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was toppled in a revolution in August.

“Those responsible for the indiscriminate killings during the mass uprising in July and August will be brought back from wherever they have taken refuge”, Asif Nazrul, the interim government’s law advisor, told reporters on Sunday.

“We will ensure they are arrested and brought to justice”.

Dozens of Hasina’s allies have been taken into custody since her regime collapsed, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that led to her ouster.

France-based Interpol publishes red notices at the request of a member nation, based on an arrest warrant issued in their home country.

Nazrul did not mention any individual by name, but Bangladesh has already issued an arrest warrant for 77-year-old Hasina — last seen arriving in India after fleeing by helicopter as crowds stormed her palace.

Hasina’s 15-year rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.

Red notices issued by the global police body alert law enforcement agencies worldwide about fugitives.

Nazrul said they would request a red notice “as soon as possible”.

India is a member of Interpol, but the red notice does not mean New Delhi must hand Hasina over.

Member countries can “apply their own laws in deciding whether to arrest a person”, according to the group, which organises police cooperation between 196 member countries. Hasina has been summoned to appear in court in Dhaka on Nov 18 to face charges of “massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity”.

Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), said that the court had “sought arrest warrants for more than 60 individuals”, and that “so far, around 25 have been arrested,”.

AL supporters arrested

Supporters of Bangladesh’s ousted former leader were arrested after following her orders to protest bearing placards of Donald Trump, police said on Sunday, accusing them of trying to undermine relations with Washington.

Police arrested 10 protesters they described as “conspirators” on Saturday and accused them of attempting to destabilise the South Asian country of around 170 million people.

“We are assessing their crimes in order to file charges,” Dhaka Metropolitan Police spokesman Muhammad Talebur Rahman said.

The tiny protest came ahead of a proposed rally by Hasina’s Awami League, but the gathering was barred by the interim government which calls the group “fascist”.

Only a few pro-Hasina supporters took to the streets on Sunday, while some small scuffles broke out with student counter-protesters. Dozens of Hasina’s allies were arrested after her regime collapsed — accused of culpability in a police crackdown.

Police said that an audio recording of Hasina circulating on social media had urged her supporters to protest on Sunday, and to carry placards with Trump’s photo and US flags.

“She asked them to use the placards as shields and to take photos and video footage if there were any attacks,” police said in a statement.

“They had been plotting a conspiracy to undermine Bangladesh’s friendly relationship with the United States.”

Published in Dawn, November 11th, 2024