Bangladesh to seek extradition of ousted Sheikh Hasina: Govt

Bangladesh will seek the extradition of ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina who was toppled in a revolution in August and fled to India, interim leader Muhammad Yunus said.

Dhaka has already issued an arrest warrant for 77-year-old Hasina -- last seen arriving in neighboring India after fleeing by helicopter as crowds stormed her palace.

Hasina has been summoned to appear in court in Dhaka on Monday to face charges of "massacres, killings, and crimes against humanity", but she remains in exile in India.

Yunus said his administration was focused on ensuring those guilty of cracking down on the protests to oust Hasina faced justice.

Several of her former government ministers, who were detained and held in custody, are expected in court to face similar charges.

"We have already taken initiatives to try those responsible for enforced disappearances, murders, and the mass killings during the July-August uprising," Yunus said on Sunday.

The 84-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner was appointed to lead the government as "chief advisor" on August 9, days after the end of Hasina's 15 years of iron-fisted rule.

Yunus, in a speech to the nation marking 100 days in power since a student-led revolution, said he had spoken to Karim Khan, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

"We will seek the extradition of the ousted autocrat from India," Yunus said, referring to Hasina.

Earlier this month, Bangladesh said it would request an Interpol "red notice" alert for fugitive leaders of Hasina's regime.

But Yunus said he could not give a timeframe for the elections, saying it was dependent on a raft of reforms.

"I promise that we will hold the much-anticipated election once the necessary and essential reforms are complete," he said in the broadcast.

"I request your patience until then. We aim to build an electoral system that will endure for decades. For this, we need some time."

Crisis Group analyst Thomas Kean has called the challenge facing Yunus "monumental", warning of that "cracks are emerging in the fragile alliance" that pushed him into power.

"For now, Yunus and his colleagues have widespread support, but popular expectations are double-edged," the thinktank said in a report on Thursday.

"If the interim administration falters in making reforms, the outcome is likely to be an early election with little progress; in the worst-case scenario, the military could assume power."

11 ex-Bangladeshi ministers face court over crackdown

Thirteen Bangladeshi former top government officials arrested after the revolution in August appeared in court Monday accused of "enabling massacres", with prosecutors repeating extradition demands for exiled ex-leader Sheikh Hasina.

Dozens of Hasina's allies have been taken into custody since her regime collapsed, accused of involvement in a police crackdown that killed more than 700 people during the unrest that led to her ouster.

Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam said the 13 defendants, who included 11 former ministers, a judge and an ex-government secretary, were accused of command responsibility for the deadly crackdown on the student-led protest that ousted the regime.

Red notices issued by the global police body alert law enforcement agencies worldwide about fugitives.

India is a member of Interpol, but the red notice does not mean New Delhi must hand Hasina over as each country applies their own laws on whether an arrest should be made.