Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that her government is against extrajudicial killings and has tried to stop the continuation of such crimes initiated by military dictator Zia-ur Rahman and institutionalised by his wife and former premier Khaleda Zia, according to a media report.

Hasina said this during her valedictory speech in parliament on Thursday when deputy leader of the Opposition G.M. Quader drew her attention to the issue of extrajudicial killings, the Dhaka Tribune reported.

“You are telling about the extrajudicial killings. But who had initiated it? It started during the tenure of Zia-ur Rahman as bodies of our many leaders and activists were not found at that time. And afterwards, it (extrajudicial killing) got institutional shape (during the tenure of Khaleda Zia). We tried to stop its continuation,” she said.

“We are not sparing anyone (involved in extrajudicial killings) and we never do that,” she said, adding that her government has been taking appropriate measures against the wrongdoers.

On Wednesday, a Dhaka court sentenced three policemen to life imprisonment in a case lodged over the custodial death of a youth in Dhaka’s Mirpur area in 2014, the report said.

The Prime Minister also appreciated the country’s law enforcement agencies for their work.

“At the same time, we have to think that the law enforcement agencies have been working tirelessly to control the narcotics, terrorism and militancy by risking their lives and they have achieved huge success to this end,” she said.