Bangladesh has formally asked India to hand over former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal after a court in Dhaka convicted them of crimes against humanity.

In a statement, Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) had found the two guilty and sentenced them accordingly, making it India’s responsibility to immediately return them to face further legal proceedings.

According to The Daily Star, the ministry warned that giving refuge to individuals convicted of such offences would be seen as an “extremely unfriendly act” and akin to obstructing justice.

It added that India is legally bound under agreements between the two countries to ensure their extradition.

The ministry urged New Delhi to promptly hand over Sheikh Hasina and Kamal to the relevant Bangladeshi courts or authorities.

The ICT’s three-member bench announced its verdict in a 453-page judgment, convicting Sheikh Hasina on five charges of crimes against humanity. The court ordered that she remain imprisoned for life.

The special tribunal handed her the death penalty on two charges related to violent suppression of protests and life terms on three others.

The allegations included incitement, ordering the use of lethal force against demonstrators, the killing of a student at Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur, the shooting deaths of six protesters in Dhaka, and the burning alive of six people in Ashulia.

The tribunal also ordered the confiscation of assets owned by Sheikhh Hasina and Kamal.

A UN report earlier found that between 15 July and 5 August last year, nearly 1,400 people were killed and thousands injured during anti-government protests, marking the deadliest period of political violence in Bangladesh since the 1971 Liberation War.

The International Crimes Tribunal is a domestic war-crimes court established under Bangladeshi law.