Fact check: Interpol did not issue a red notice against Hasina

Since the start of the day, several newspapers have published articles according to which a red notice had been issued by Interpol against the ousted Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina.

However, this news is false.

At a briefing today (December 22), the Prosecutor General of the International Criminal Court, Tajul Islam, said he did not know whether or not a red notice had been issued.

The police headquarters also said it did not yet have information on whether a red notice was issued against Hasina, who fled to India on August 5 in the face of a mass uprising led by students.

Speaking to The Business Standard, Additional Inspector General Enamul Haque of the media wing of the police headquarters said he was not aware of the matter.

“We wrote a letter to Interpol a few days ago for issuing a red notice regarding the arrest of Sheikh Hasina. However, we are yet to receive any notification regarding the issuance of the red notice.”

Earlier in the day, Tajul had said that a red notice would be issued against Hasina, according to various media reports.

It should be noted that the Interpol website displaying red notices does not show any such notice for Hasina.

Interpol currently has a total of 6,656 public red notices in circulation. Only 63 of them are against the Bangladeshis.

A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement agencies around the world to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.

It is based on an arrest warrant or a judicial decision issued by the judicial authorities of the requesting country. Member countries apply their own laws when deciding whether or not to arrest a person.

On November 12, the ICT Attorney General’s Office sent a letter to Interpol, asking it to issue a Red Notice against Hasina to facilitate her arrest and repatriation for orchestrating murders, genocide, and crimes against humanity committed during the massive student-led uprising in July and August.