According to a local media report, a Bangladesh court on Wednesday sentenced the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to six months in prison for contempt. The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) declared the verdict.
As reported by The Dhaka Tribune, a three-member panel of the International Crimes Tribunal-1, led by Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, determined Hasina’s punishment amount. Hasina’s imprisonment will begin from the date of her capture or voluntary surrender.
Together with Hasina, the court imposed a two-month prison sentence on Shakil Akand Bulbul from Gobindaganj in Gaibandha for the same contempt order. Bulbul is a political individual from Dhaka and was linked to the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student faction of Awami League.
This marks the first instance in which the deposed Awami League leader has been found guilty in any matter since her ousting from power and subsequent exile in India 11 months ago.
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Why the Sentencing?
The sentence results from Hasina’s purported remarks considered to have compromised the tribunal’s dignity and authority, which was initially created by Sheikh Hasina’s administration in 2008 to pursue those charged with war crimes during the 1971 Liberation War and beyond.
On July 1, Sheikh Hasina rejected allegations of committing crimes against humanity, following prosecutors bringing five charges against her related to abetment, incitement, complicity, facilitation, and conspiracy, as well as failing to prevent mass murder, which are considered crimes against humanity under Bangladeshi law.
The expelled leader’s prohibited Awami League, in a statement released in London, labeled it a “show trial” and asserted that the defendant “categorically denies the accusations”.
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In June of this year, prosecutors at the International Crimes Tribunal officially charged Hasina with crimes against humanity related to the mass protests that took place last year. Mohammad Tajul Islam, the lead prosecutor at ICT accused Hasina of coordinating a “systematic assault” on demonstrations opposing her administration.
1,400 died in Violence post Awami League collapse
A UN rights office report indicates that around 1,400 individuals lost their lives between July 15 and August 15, 2024, as retaliatory violence persisted even after the previous regime’s collapse.
On August 5, Hasina escaped to India. A number of her past ministers and high-ranking officials are currently undergoing legal proceedings due to the lethal suppression that followed the revolt.
Three days post her removal, Nobel Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, 85, was designated to head Bangladesh’s interim government.
