TDS Desk:

Criminal trials against ousted dictator Sheikh Hasina will begin in the first half of May, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus has said in an interview given to Al Jazeera.

Local Government and Rural Development Adviser Asif Mahmud Sojib Bhuiyan posted excerpts from the interview on his facebook profile on Monday.

According to the facebook post, Prof Yunus told Al Jazeera that the UN fact-finding team has found evidence of Hasina’s crimes. In this backdrop, trials against her can be started next month.

The interim government has already asked India, where Hasina is hiding, to hand her over to Bangladesh authorities, but New Delhi is yet to give a reply in this regard, Prof Yunus said.

The Nobel Laureate made the remarks in the programme titled “Muhammad Yunus: Real Reform or Just a New Ruling Class in Bangladesh?,” which was a special episode of the regular “Talk to Al Jazeera” show.

Al Jazeera was particularly interested to know if the Yunus-led interim government represents true change or replaces one elite with another.

Remnants of the ousted dictatorship is already strong in the administration, and other political forces are also seeking to take their chance amid the present power vacuum. Journalist and the interviewer Neave Barker told Yunus his administration has to provide specific answers on these issues.

In reply, the Nobel Laureate said the people are still not calling for the interim government to step down and make way for a new ruling class. They appear to want the government to hold onto power for the time being, he said.

People are not getting impatient with the government, potentially giving it time to work on state reform initiatives, the interim government chief suggested.