Banglasdesh bars ex-leader from returning home
Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was blocked today from boarding a flight home from London after the military-backed government barred her from returning.
Hasina had vowed to return to fight murder and corruption charges after the country’s military-backed interim government moved last week to force her and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia – who have dominated Bangladeshi politics for the past 15 years – into exile.
Hasina’s close aide, Abdus Sobhan Golap, who accompanied her to London’s Heathrow Airport, said British Airways officials would not allow her onto the flight, citing security reasons.
“She was not allowed to get on the plane,” he said.
Banglandeshi media reported last week that she would be refused entry to the country, and that authorities had told airlines not to allow her to board any incoming flights.
British Airways said in a statement that it – along with other airlines – had been notified by the Civil Aviation Authority in Bangladesh that a passenger had been banned from entering the country.
“As a result we’re not able to accept them for travel on BA,” the airline said, without elaborating.
Golap said Hasina argued for an hour and a half with airline officials who showed her documents issued by the Bangladeshi government.
“They said there were other passengers on the plane and it was going to be very insecure for her,” Golap said. “They said it was better not to fly.”
Hasina told the airline officials that she wanted to return to fight the allegations against her, Golap said by telephone. “She said ’I have to go back’.”
Many Bangladeshis blame the political rivalry between Hasina and Zia for making the country’s widespread poverty and corruption worse. The interim government that hoped forcing them into exile would calm the bitter division between their political camps, which has derailed the country’s fragile democracy.
Hasina, who held the office in 1996-2001, was charged with murder on April 11 while she was in the US on a visit.
The government on Wednesday accused her of issuing “inflammatory statements” against the country’s military-backed interim government while she was outside the country.
The murder case involves the deaths of four protesters in a riot in October. The riot broke out at one of a series of demonstrations by her supporters accusing the government of her rival, Zia, of stacking the committee that was supposed to oversee January elections and rigging voter rolls.
More than 30 people died in the protests, which eventually led to the cancellation of the polls and the takeover by the current military-backed government under emergency powers.
Metropolitan magistrate Meer Ali Reza issued the arrest warrant for Hasina on Sunday, her counsel Kamrul Islam told reporters. But he didn’t make any further comment.
The United News of Bangladesh agency reported that Hasina is now listed as a fugitive.
