On 2nd July (Wednesday), Ousted Bangladesh PK Sheikh Hasina was granted a six-months jail term in a contempt case by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).
As per The Dhaka Tribune, a three-member bench, headed by Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, of the ICT convicted Hasina for contempt of court. The sentence will take effect when is she is arrested or surrenders. The tribunal also granted 2 months imprisonment to Shakil Akand Bulbul, a member of Awami League’s student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), from Gobindaganj in Gaibandha for the same offence.
The case reportedly relates to a leaked phone call, in which Hasina allegedly told Bulbul that she had obtained a license to kill 227 people. “227 cases have been filed against me, so I have obtained a licence to kill 227 people,” Hasina reportedly said in her phone conversation with Bulbul made in October last year.
It was contended by the prosecution before the Tribunal that the statement of Hasina amounted to contempt of court as it threatened the judicial process and was intended to create fear among those involved in the ongoing war crimes trials relating to last year’s revolution that overthrew the Awami League government in Bangladesh. Hasina was formally charged by the ICT in June this year, for crimes against humanity alleging her role in ordering mass killings during the ‘student uprising’ in July last year.
After 15 years of successfully ruling Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina had to flee from her country in August last year following regime change operations disguised as a student-led protest that went on for weeks. The Hindu minorities of Bangladesh faced brutal violence during the so-called protests. An interim government led by Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus took over and promised to take the country on the path of democracy. However, almost a year after the undemocratic ouster of the Hasina government, the elections are nowhere in sight in Bangladesh. Instead, Muhammad Yunus launched a campaign called ‘Operation Devil Hunt’ to hunt down Awami League (AL) leaders from across the country.
