DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A special court in Bangladesh issued arrest warrants on Thursday for former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and 45 others, including her close aides, on charges of crimes against humanity during a student-led uprising in July and August that forced her to flee the country, a prosecutor said.
Prosecutor B.M. Sultan Mahmud said the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal under Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, the country's interim leader, issued the arrest warrants in response to two petitions submitted by the prosecution.
He said the head of the tribunal, Golam Mortuza Majumdar, issued the orders in the presence of other judges.
“The tribunal first accepted our petition that involved Sheikh Hasina alone. Then we moved our second petition against 45 people that involved her close aides and others for the crimes against humanity. It was also accepted by the tribunal,” he said by phone.
Hasina fled the country to India on Aug. 5 after weeks of violent protests over government job quotas in which hundreds of people died. Prosecutors said in the petitions that Hasina, her close aides and security agencies were responsible for killing the protesters and others.
It is not clear if India will respond to any request from Bangladesh for Hasina's extradition under a mutual treaty. The tribunal's chief prosecutor, Muhammad Tajul Islam, earlier said they would seek help from Interpol, if necessary, to get Hasina back.
The Yunus-led interim government has promised to try Hasina and others in her administration for alleged crimes involving the uprising against her and has invited the United Nations to help investigate the killings. Hasina also called for investigation as she questioned the killings, saying many deaths may have involved others beyond security agencies.
FILE- Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaks during a press conference in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Jan. 6, 2014. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, File)
BERLIN (AP) — It’s been more than 10 years since Borussia Dortmund won back-to-back titles in the Bundesliga.
There have been minor successes — German Cup wins in 2017 and 2021, and reaching the Champions League final last season — but they’ve served only to raise the long-suffering Dortmund fans’ expectations by showing the team’s potential.
Despite the return of former player Nuri Sahin as coach, this season already seems to be following the well-worn path of the last few.
Before the international break, Dortmund routed Scottish champion Celtic 7-1 in the Champions League, then followed with a meek 2-1 loss at Union Berlin in the Bundesliga. Dortmund has won only half of its six German league games so far. A 5-1 loss at Stuttgart had already put the team’s league ambitions in perspective.
Sahin believes it’s too early for alarm.
“To start doubting our path after six match days would be fatal. And we won’t do that,” Sahin said this week. “And despite criticism, it is my job to always offer solutions, to show the solutions, and to improve things together with the guys.”
Sahin said he had no room for any doubts.
“We are very, very confident about the path we are taking as a club and we will follow it to the end and be successful. I am sure of that.”
Sahin is the seventh coach to take charge of Dortmund since Jürgen Klopp stood down in 2015. It was Klopp who led the team to back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012, then runner-up finishes behind Bayern Munich in 2013 and 2014, before his team’s form unravelled during the 2014-15 season.
Dortmund never recovered amid ongoing questions about the team's mentality. The closest it came to ending Bayern’s dominance was in 2023, when it squandered the chance of winning the Bundesliga on the final day during Edin Terzić’s second stint in charge.
Terzić resigned after last season’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, saying he wanted to make way for someone else to begin a new era at the club – a reference to Klopp’s mostly successful seven-year stint in charge.
Red Bull’s recent announcement that Klopp is to join the company to oversee its soccer clubs’ development has added to Dortmund fans’ pain.
Another former coach, Thomas Tuchel, who won the German Cup in 2017, was appointed England coach on Wednesday.
The 36-year-old Sahin — Terzić’s former assistant — faces a tall order to restore Dortmund’s status as Bayern’s biggest challenger in the league. Other clubs have assumed that mantle, with Bayer Leverkusen becoming the one to finally end Bayern’s 11-year run as champion by claiming its first Bundesliga title after a remarkable unbeaten campaign last season. Stuttgart and Leipzig also both finished ahead of Dortmund last season.
Summer signings are yet to settle in. The arrivals of star Guinea forward Serhou Guirassy and Germany defender Waldmar Anton from Stuttgart have yet to improve the team’s attack or defense, while the 33-year-old Pascal Groß from Brighton can’t be seen as a long-term solution to the team’s vulnerability.
Off the field, there have been reports of disharmony between Dortmund’s new managing director for sport Lars Ricken, sporting director Sebastian Kehl and team planner Sven Mislintat. Chief executive Hans-Joachim “Aki” Watzke is stepping down at the end of the year.
One of Watzke’s last major contributions was the signing of a sponsorship deal with an arms manufacturer before the Champions League final, leading to protests from Dortmund fans this season.
Dortmund next hosts promoted St. Pauli in the Bundesliga on Friday, before another tussle with Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday. Madrid won their final 2-0 in June.
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Dortmund's Emre Can receives the ball in front of Union's Christopher Trimmel during the Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
Dortmund's head coach Nuri Sahin shouts during the German Bundesliga soccer match between 1. FC Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, Germany, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (Andreas Gora/dpa via AP)
Dortmund's Sebastien Haller talks to a referee during the Bundesliga soccer match between Union Berlin and Borussia Dortmund in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024.(AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)
