Bangladesh protests calling for swift prosecution of ex-prime minister for 'escape from India'

Thousands of Bangladeshi university students and citizens have called for a swift indictment of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India after the bloody crackdown on protests.

According to the Daily Star and the Associated Press, protesters at a rally in Dhaka, the capital, on the 31st of last month called for the quick prosecution of former Prime Minister Hasina and the dissolution of the political party of the Awami League (AL).

Hasina, a former prime minister who had been in power for 15 years, resigned as prime minister in July last year after hundreds of people were killed while bloody suppression of university student protests and fled to India, where she sponsored her.

The protests come as the transitional government, headed by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, has yet to make progress in the punishment process, including the indictment of former Prime Minister Hasina.

Earlier in October last year, the International Criminal Court (ICT), a special Bangladesh court, issued an arrest warrant for former Prime Minister Hasina and her aides on charges of slaughter, murder and crimes against humanity.

A month later, Bangladesh police asked the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) to issue a red flag to secure former Prime Minister Hasina's whereabouts, and last week officially asked the Indian government to extradite Hasina.

However, former Prime Minister Hasina's side denies the charges applied to them and is seeking the AL's "return to politics" through the next general election.

The next general election will be held at the end of this year or the first half of next year.