Sajeeb Wazed, son of former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has said that the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government is “weaponising the judiciary” to launch a political witch hunt against the leaders of his mother’s party, the Awami League leadership.
Sheikh Hasina was ousted from power in August following a deadly protest against reservations in government jobs. She fled the country in a military helicopter and took refuge in India. Later, Yunus formed an interim government.
The interim government on Monday said it had sent a diplomatic note to India seeking Sheikh Hasina’s extradition.
Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has issued arrest warrants for Hasina and several former cabinet ministers, advisers and military and civil officials for “crimes against humanity and genocide.”
Wazed said in a social media post that members of the judiciary appointed by the Yunus government launched a witch hunt to persecute Awami League leadership.
“The judges and prosecutors appointed by the unelected Yunus-led regime to conduct farcical trial process through International Crimes Tribunal makes it a political witch hunt that forsakes justice and marks another ongoing onslaught to persecute Awami League leadership,” Wazed said in his post on Tuesday.
An IT entrepreneur, Wazed is based in the US and was an ICT adviser in Hasina’s government.
“The kangaroo tribunal and subsequent request for extradition comes while hundreds of leaders and activists are extrajudicially killed, framing of outrageous murder charges, illegal incarceration of thousands by law enforcement and violent attacks including looting vandalism and arson going on with impunity everyday fuelled by denial of the regime,” he added.
India and Bangladesh’s relations have soured since Hasina’s ouster. There are tensions between the two countries over the persecution of Hindu minorities in Bangladesh.
On Monday, India confirmed receiving the ‘note verbale’ or diplomatic communication from the Bangladesh High commission in New Delhi but refrained from commenting on it.
Wazed further accused the chief prosecutor of ICT Tribunal, Tajul Islam, of defending war criminals. He claimed that he reportedly spread a “deliberate disinformation campaign” against Hasina by claiming that Interpol issued a red notice against her.
“But the prosecutor later altered his statement following media exposure of the outright lie and now officially sent a request to India for the extradition,” Hasina’s son said.
“We reiterate our position that every single incident of human rights violation between July and August needs to be investigated in a free and fair manner but the Yunus-led regime weaponised the judiciary, and we express no confidence in the justice system,” he alleged.
With inputs from PTI
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#Muhammad #Yunus #government #weaponising #judiciary #Sheikh #Hasinas #son #World #News