State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam on Thursday said former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, currently staying in India, would be arrested whenever she comes to Bangladesh.
"Since she has been convicted, there is no scope for surrender. Whenever she comes to Bangladesh, she will be arrested. It will be done in accordance with the law," she told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noting that efforts are continuing to secure her extradition to Bangladesh.
Hasina will have to go to jail if surrenders, says Shama Obaed
The State Minister said the people of Bangladesh want court orders to be implemented against those living abroad. She said the Law Adviser and the Home Adviser had already explained the legal aspects.
"If she surrenders, the existing law will be followed. She will have to go to jail. The law will take its own course," Shama Obaed told reporters on Monday at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
She said Hasina's recent remarks from abroad appeared intended to encourage Awami League leaders and activists who have either gone into hiding or fled the country. "I see no other reason," she said.
Bangladesh has formally requested India to extradite Hasina under the bilateral extradition treaty.
Bangladesh is making sustained diplomatic efforts to bring Hasina back to face trial, while acknowledging that the extradition process takes time.
Three ministries, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, have been pursuing the matter since the new government assumed office in February, building on efforts initiated under the interim government.
The government believes the people of Bangladesh want Hasina to be extradited.
On April 8, Bangladesh renewed its request for the extradition of Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, both of whom have been sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal.
"We will continue to seek her extradition through a transparent judicial process. It has been discussed and will be dealt with through a transparent judicial process," Prime Minister's Foreign Affairs Adviser Humaiun Kobir told reporters in Dhaka.