DHAKA: Law Minister Anisul Huq said BNP acting chairperson Tarique Rahman can be brought back to the country from United Kingdom.

The minister made the remarks at a press conference in the law ministry of secretariat on Thursday (April 26).

The press conference was held on the occasion of observing National Legal Aid Day that falls on April 28.

The Law minister said, “Tarique has been convicted by a Bangladeshi court and was a Bangladeshi citizen during the time of the crime. However, it’s true that we don’t have any extradition agreement with UK but there is no bar for extradition with mutual legal assistance. The two countries are currently discussing this issue.” 

Explaining how Tarique can be brought back to the country, Anisul said, “We have legal assistance act in our country as per UN directives. Any convicted felon can be extradited between UN countries through mutual legal assistance. So, Tarique can be brought back to Bangladesh even if he doesn’t have Bangladeshi citizenship.”

On the issue of Tarique’s passport submission, he said, “So far I know Tarique Rahman has surrendered his Bangladeshi passport to the Home office of UK and sought political asylum there. It suggests that he has voluntarily said that he does not want to remain as a citizen of Bangladesh. Therefore, he denied Bangladeshi citizenship”.

BDST: 1858 HRS, APR 26, 2018
AP