Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said BNP leader Tarique Rahman, a convict and fugitive to justice, will be taken back to Bangladesh as he has been staying in London to evade trial in several cases, reports BSS.
"He (Tarique) will have to face the court," she said replying to a query at a discussion titled 'Bangladesh's Development Story: Policies, Progresses and Prospects' at Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London on Tuesday.
Hasina said that her government was in talks with the British authorities for extradition of the acting chairman of the BNP.
Tarique, in London for a decade, has been standing in for his mother Khaleda Zia who was jailed for five years for corruption on Feb 8.
He has also been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the same case. He had earlier got a prison term of seven years for laundering money.
Speaking at the discussion on Tuesday, Hasina came down hard on the UK for sheltering a fugitive convict like Tarique.
She said the United Kingdom is a free country and it is true that anybody can take shelter and refuge in the country. "But, Tarique Rahman has been convicted by the court for committing crimes and I don't understand how the UK has given shelter to a convicted person," she said.
On the Rohingya issue, the prime minister said Bangladesh has signed an agreement with Myanmar. "Unfortunately, Myanmar is not taking any initiative for their repatriation and that is the problem."
Dhaka has been “showing friendly gesture” to Naypyidaw, but it practically did nothing to take back its citizens, said the prime minister. "That's why we want the international community to put more pressure on Myanmar in this regard."
She said the government made arrangements and is also developing a place where they can live in a better way as monsoon is approaching and accidents may take place. "We are giving all kinds of support, including food...everything we are providing. We have started building some houses and cyclone shelters in that place so that they can go there."
Hasina said there are many refugees staying on the border, but Myanmar took back only half of a family. "May be they want to show the world they are taking them back...it's a good sign. But, why only half of a family?"

BSS