Islington Tribune - News: MP supports dissent's bid to return home

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Islington Tribune - by MARK BLUNDEN
Published: 27 April 2007

Emily Thornberry with Sheikh Hasina at Heathrow airport

MP supports dissident’s bid to return home

A BANGLADESHI dissident facing a murder charge was banned from flying home to clear her name on Sunday despite the intervention of Labour MP Emily Thornberry.
The Islington South and Finsbury MP failed to convince British Airways staff at Heathrow airport that Sheikh Hasina, the country’s former Prime Minister, should be allowed to board a flight to Dhaka.
Ms Hasina, who heads the Awami League party, faces extortion and murder charges at home. She claims they are politically motivated.
Bangladeshi officials said that if Ms Hasina had boarded the plane the pilot would have been told to take off again on landing in Dhaka.
Ms Hasina, who was visiting family in the UK when the ban on returning home was imposed, wants to return home to clear her name. But the government there is concerned her presence could cause civil unrest.
She is now stuck in London.
Ms Thornberry, a human rights barrister, is campaigning for the former PM to be allowed to face trial and has raised the matter with Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett.
She said: “I have spoken to both Margaret Beckett and British Airways about the matter.
“Margaret Beckett said the case was a matter for British Airways. British Airways told me they were not going to allow Ms Hasina to fly to Bangladesh on their plane because they were afraid they would face sanctions from the Banglashesi government.
“She really wanted to get on that plane back to Bangladesh so she could clear her name.”
Ms Thornberry, who has strong ties with the Tower Hamlets Bangladeshi community, has vowed to continue campaigning for Ms Hasina to be allowed to return home and face trial.

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