Sheikh Hasina cannot be issued a passport because she is a convicted fugitive, said Md Aminul Islam, chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal. Since she did not appeal against her sentence, the death sentence will be carried out if she returns, he added.
He said this on Tuesday afternoon.
“Under Article 6 of the Bangladesh Passport Order 1973, if an accused person has been convicted within five years of applying for a passport, and the sentence is at least two years, a passport will not be issued,” the chief prosecutor said.
Aminul Islam explained: “Under Article 7, a convicted person’s passport may be seized or revoked if the conviction involves moral turpitude. Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal. She has been convicted of crimes against humanity, and crimes against humanity are called moral turpitude. Because this is an offence of moral turpitude, the Bangladesh government has for good reason cancelled her passport.”
“Under sections 6(a), (b), (c) and (e) of the passport law, since she has been convicted, the passport authority has no further power to issue a passport to a convicted person,” the chief prosecutor said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report