Why India extraditing Hasina to Bangladesh to face death penalty is unlikely

India is unlikely to accept an extradition request for Bangladesh’s former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is facing the death penalty in her own country for crimes against humanity.

Hasina, 78, has been living in India since fleeing Bangladesh in August last year after the fall of her regime. She was sentenced to death on Monday after being found guilty by a tribunal of incitement, issuing kill orders and failing to stop atrocities linked to last year’s protests in which up to 1,400 people died in clashes with security forces.

The defiant Bangladeshi ex-leader said the verdicts were announced by a “rigged tribunal” which was established by an unelected government, adding she was willing to face an independent court, including the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Observers say the latest development adds to India’s discomfort with Bangladesh’s interim government as it is concerned Dhaka may increasingly slip under the influence of radical Islamists, including those based in arch-rival Pakistan.

New Delhi reacted cautiously to the sentence against Hasina after the court ruling.

  

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