Sheikh Hasina's Inquiry: Bangladesh tribunal sets December deadline for probe completion on Sheikh Hasina

Bangladesh's special tribunal has granted the investigators till December 17 to finish the investigation into the overthrown former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her closest advisors. Charges of crimes against humanity levied on them are related to the mass uprising, earlier this year, that killed hundreds.

Bangladesh Tribunal Sets Deadline for Hasina Inquiry

Head judge of the three-member International Crimes Tribunal Golam Mortuza Majumdar declared the deadline at a hearing on Monday. At the hearing, police updated the tribunal on the effort of security agencies to put Hasina and her associates behind the bar while the prosecution sought time for further investigation.

Hasina, who had fled to India on 5 August as student mass demonstrations were being led by students, has stayed in exile since then. The tribunal issued arrest warrants against her and 45 others, including former Cabinet ministers, advisors, and officials, on October 17. Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, head of the interim government, said he will ask for her extradition through Interpol.

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On Monday, at least 13 suspects appeared before the tribunal. One former Cabinet minister remains in detention as police question him in another case. Six more suspects are due to be presented later this week. A total of 20 people have been arrested so far in connection with the case. The July-August uprising, which originated as protests over government jobs, spread into a bigger anti-government movement characterized by extreme violence. Security forces looking to quell the violence were blamed for mass killings. Hasina, who had led Bangladesh for 15 years, had earlier demanded a probe into the killings but saw her government collapse in the course of the unrest.