The government is working to bring back fugitive accused, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who have been convicted of crimes against humanity, and execute the verdicts, Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman said on Monday.
“The relevant ministry is working to bring the fugitive accused back to the country and execute the sentences,” he told journalists after visiting the International Crimes Tribunal and the Prosecution Office.
Chief Prosecutor Aminul Islam and members of the prosecution team were present.
The law minister said the government currently has no plans to increase the number of tribunals. “From my position, I have not yet found any aspect of the current tribunal’s activities worth questioning. If I do, we will certainly look into it.”
On the growing number of cases, he said, “The increase in the number of cases is not a cause for concern. Justice must be served. Our consideration is whether justice is being delivered. That is a matter of challenge.”
Regarding allegations of corruption against prosecution team members, Asaduzzaman said, “We are giving utmost importance to these matters. The issue is ongoing.”
When asked about whether the retirement age of Supreme Court judges would be reduced, the minister noted that the opposition had proposed in a parliamentary special committee meeting to reduce judges’ age from 67 to 65.
“This is related to constitutional amendment and requires discussion in the designated committee. However, personally, I am not in favour of reducing it; I am in favour of increasing it. Because that way, the state will receive more service from experienced judges,” he said, adding that many countries, including the United States, have no fixed retirement age for judges given the importance of their experience.
On increasing the judiciary’s budget, the law minister said, “I am not very optimistic about this. Let us see how much can be allocated, or we can work continuously to arrange it in the future.”
