Hasina should be extradited, brought to justice if she committed crimes: Yunus

Highlights

• Instances of mob justice exaggerated, he says
• Reform commission will submit report in three months
• Consensus will be reached on reform with political parties
• Election date can't be specified, but within reasonable time limit
• Says "no way" he would run for office

Sheikh Hasina should be extradited and brought to justice, Chief Adviser Professor Yunus said yesterday (25 September) during the New York Times Climate Forward summit.

"If she committed crimes, she should be extradited and brought to justice," he said in reply to a question.

During the summit, Yunus touched upon a broad range of issues, including the impact of climate change on Bangladesh and the way forward.

On mob justice

Professor Yunus said the instances of mob justice in Bangladesh had been exaggerated.

"I invite all the foreign reporters in Bangladesh to find out the specific cases of [such] justice."

He said, "Nobody is a victim of political victimisation of this nature in Bangladesh now."

"Those who are guilty left the country. So the people who are there still, nobody is saying, you belong to this old party, so you should be punished. Nobody is saying that."

On election

Professor Yunus said the election would be held within a reasonable period of time.

"Currently, we have six reform commissions in place. These commissions are working on various reforms, including the Election Commission, the justice system, and the police system, among others," he said.

"The Election Commission has to be reformed according to the recommendation of the commission. The commission has been asked to submit their report in three months. And the voter list has to be prepared whatever time it needs," he added. 

He further said, "So there'll be a blueprint of actions, reforms and this will be shared with all the political parties…After that, negotiations and discussions will follow to reach a consensus on holding the election.

"That's the timeframe we require. I can't say exactly when. That's it."

He also said if the consensus was for certain reforms to be left to the elected government, then they will leave it for them.

Will Yunus run for office?

Professor Yunus made it clear at the summit that he had no interest in running for office.

"Do I look like someone who will run?" Yunus replied jokingly when asked, before adding, "I'm not in the running business at all."

Asked again if there was any chance he would run, Yunus said, "No way."

Building new Bangladesh

At the summit, Professor Yunus once again emphasised the need of building a new Bangladesh through reforms. 

"The whole theme of the government that we inherited from the student movement and the student revolution that just took place which brought us into power is reform," he said. 

"We don't want to go back to what has happened to Bangladesh until August of August 5 this year. So the way they express it is that we push the reset button."

He said they were not inheriting things from the past. 

"We [will] build it completely new. That's our task," he said, adding "Reform is the big agenda for us in every sector because we have inherited devastated economy, devastated institutions, destroyed the structures everywhere, policies."

What rich countries owe developing nations

Asked on what rich countries owed to countries like Bangladesh, Professor Yunus said the onus was on richer nations to find a way to stop the fallout of climate change. 

"Build walls so that you can't destroy us. You must find a way," he said. 

"Why should we carry the burden of all the destruction that you put on us? You are the cause. We are the result."