Hasina must be brought back, put on trial if involved in crimes: Yunus

Dr Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the interim government, has said that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is now in India, must be brought back and put on trial if she had committed crimes.

Yunus made the remark in response to a question at an event in New York on Wednesday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Yunus is currently in the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly session.

Referring to the general election in Bangladesh, the chief adviser said there was no fixed timeframe for elections in Bangladesh.

He expects that the commissions formed for reforms will provide recommendations for reforms in the coming months, after which an election date would will be fixed.

When asked whether Sheikh Hasina would be repatriated from India to face justice, Yunus said: “Why not?”

If she (Sheikh Hasina) had committed a crime, she should be brought back and put on trial, he added.

Sheikh Hasina resigned as prime minister on August 5 following a student and public uprising and fled to India.

Later, on August 8, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

Yunus also mentioned that he did not have any plan to run in the election.

He countered with a question, “Do I look like someone who would run in an election?”

On Wednesday, Dr Yunus attended the “Climate Forward” summit organised by the American media outlet The New York Times in New York. At the summit, he stated that as long as the world remains stuck to the current economic system, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change will not be effective.

The Paris Agreement was made with the goal of limiting the impact of climate change and became effective globally in 2016.