Pakistan has now spoken out about Hasina’s death sentence

At the weekly press briefing on Friday (21 November), Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Tahir Andarabi made these remarks, according to Dawn.
 

He said that the death sentence handed down to Sheikh Hasina is an internal matter of Bangladesh. The people of Bangladesh, he added, are capable of resolving such issues through their own democratic and constitutional processes.
 

Islamabad stated that the people of Bangladesh can face and overcome this crisis on their own through democratic and constitutional means.
 

Earlier on Monday, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Sheikh Hasina to death in a case related to crimes against humanity during the July movement. The verdict said she had ordered the use of lethal force to suppress the student-led protests last year. A national election is scheduled for early February, and this verdict ahead of the polls is being seen as significant.
 

Against this backdrop, at Friday’s regular weekly briefing, Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Tahir Andarabi said that several questions had been raised about the issue.
 

He said, “This is an internal matter of Bangladesh. The people of Bangladesh are capable of resolving their own problems through their democratic and constitutional processes.”

Fifteen months earlier, after stepping down amid student protests and fleeing to India, Sheikh Hasina was convicted by the court for ordering the use of lethal force. Thousands of people had been killed during the movement.
 

After the verdict, the Bangladesh government informed India that refusing to return her would be considered extremely unfriendly and a sign of disrespect toward the judicial process. Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry stated that, under the existing extradition treaty between the two countries, India is obligated to hand Hasina over.
 

So far, however, Delhi has not agreed to return her. India has maintained that it will always act in “the best interests of peace, democracy, inclusivity, and stability for the people of Bangladesh” and will work constructively with all stakeholders to achieve these goals.