Chief Prosecutor Gazi M H Tamim has said Bangladesh will again apply to Interpol to repatriate former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and ex-Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, currently listed as fugitive defendants in a war crimes case.

Speaking to reporters at the International Crimes Tribunal premises on Tuesday, Tamim said that once the certified copy of the death-sentence verdict is received, it will be sent to the district magistrate and other relevant authorities. 

He said that via the Foreign Ministry, a formal request for arrest and a sentence notification will be forwarded to Interpol. This move is intended to secure their return to face justice.

Tamim said that Hasina and Kamal have only 29 days to lodge an appeal against the capital punishment ruling. After securing the authenticated copy of the judgment, it will be routed through local administrative channels.

Besides, he said that the government will decide how to confiscate the two individuals’ assets and redistribute them to the families of the victims and the wounded.

Security was tight around the tribunal following the verdict. Reporters said there was a noticeable presence of the military, police, and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and the prosecutorial team looked confident. 

Meanwhile, the three-member bench that issued the verdict was notably absent in court for parts of the proceedings; at least one planned witness was not heard.

Earlier, the Tribunal-1 panel, led by Justice Md. Golam Mortuza Majumder, sentenced Hasina and Kamal to death for crimes against humanity. It was the first judgement in connection with the July 24 mass uprising, marking the first time such a verdict has been secured in a case of that scale.