Hasina will have to land in jail upon return: Shama Obaed

Ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina will have to surrender and go to jail if she returns to the country, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed during an exchange with reporters on Monday.

Referring to the Awami League chief’s recent claim that she could return and surrender in December, Shama Obaed said it is entire up to her where and when she wants to surrender before the law of Bangladesh.

Hasina is already a convict and there is no other scope for her to avoid jail irrespective of whether she surrenders at a Bangladesh diplomatic mission in India or inside Bangladesh, Shama Obaed added.

The BNP government is continuing diplomatic efforts for Hasina’s extradition from her self-exile in India, the state minister said.

Reporters asked whether the BNP government would lodge a protest against Hasina’s recent public remarks from India, and ask Indian authorities to put a gag on her political or inflammatory speeches.

Shama Obaed said the BNP government is continuing discussions with the Indian government, and “not everything needs” to be informed to the media.

If Hasina does not intend to surrender, then her speech in this regard appears driven by nothing more than the need to arouse her party colleagues, who have either fled from Bangladesh like her or are in hiding inside the country, Shama Obaed.

“I see no other reason,” Shama Obaed said.