Sheikh Hasina applies for new passport ahead of planned return to Bangladesh
Bangladesh's ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has asked for a new passport and national ID card so she can leave exile in India. Sentenced to death in absentia last year, she says she will surrender to a court in Bangladesh.
Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has formally requested a new passport and national identity card. Al Jazeera reported that the request is the clearest sign yet that she plans to keep her promise to return home in December. Hasina, 79, has lived in India for two years. Her lawyer, Steven Powles KC of Matrix Chambers, sent the request in a letter dated November 9, the Eastleigh Voice reported. The letter went to the Acting High Commissioner of Bangladesh in New Delhi. It cites the "reported revocation" of her old passport and ID card by the authorities. It bases the request on her Bangladeshi nationality and asks officials to process it "expeditiously". Hasina told Reuters that she intends to surrender before a court in Bangladesh, according to Al Jazeera. Her aides said on Monday that the date would be announced once the formalities are complete. Bangladesh's war crimes court sentenced her to death in absentia last November. The court found that she ordered a deadly crackdown on the 2024 student protests. United Nations estimates say…
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