Bangladesh’s ousted PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to six months of prison sentence
Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, was sentenced to six months in prison for contempt over a phone call that was leaked, her first conviction since leaving exile.
Aadrika Tayal 
New Delhi (India) July 2: According to local media, a Bangladeshi court sentenced Sheikh Hasina, the country's ousted prime minister to six months in prison on Wednesday in a contempt case. The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) declared the verdict.
The Dhaka Tribune reports that a three-member bench of the International Crimes Tribunal-1, led by Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, determined Hasina's sentence. The day of Hasina's arrest or surrender will mark the start of her sentence.
Sheikh Hasina's contempt case revolved around a phone conversation she allegedly had with Shakil Akand Bulbul in October of last year that was leaked. The statement "227 cases have been filed against me, so I have obtained a licence to kill 227 people" was spoken by a voice in the recording belonging to Hasina.
The prosecution reportedly claimed that this statement equated to contempt of court since it threatened persons participating in current war crimes proceedings connected to the huge uprising in the neighbouring country last year and harmed the legal system.
This is the first conviction in any case for the former leader of the Awami League since she was dismissed from power and fled to India.
Shakil Akand Bulbul of Gobindaganj was also sentenced to two months in prison by the tribunal in the same contempt finding as Hasina. A Dhaka-based politician, Bulbul was a member of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the Awami League's student branch.
Hasina fled to India on August 5. A number of her former ministries and high-ranking officers are currently being sued for the severe oppression that followed this uprising.
Last month, ICT officially charged former Hasina and two other individuals with crimes against humanity including mass murder for their alleged involvement in a crackdown that killed hundreds of people last year.
Hasina created the ICT in 2009 to look into and bring charges against the Pakistani army for crimes during Bangladesh's 1971 independence struggle.
Six prominent leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and one leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party were hanged after being found guilty as a consequence of the tribunal's proceedings. The nation continued to experience violence in spite of their attempts to rectify historical errors. A UN rights office report states that between July 15 and August 15 of last year, around 1,400 people were killed.
Aadrika Tayal
