Contempt of court: ICT hands 6-month jail term in first verdict against Hasina
The first tribunal also convicted and sentenced banned Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leader Shakil Akand Bulbul to two months' imprisonment
The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 today (2 July) sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to six months in jail for contempt of court.
The ICT-1 also sentenced Shakil Akand Bulbul, a leader of banned Chhatra League, to two months' imprisonment.
The three-member tribunal, led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, pronounced the judgment which said the sentences would come into effect from the day of their arrest or surrender.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
This is the first time Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced by the Tribunal in any case since being ousted from power during the July-August mass uprising last year.
Chief Prosecutor Muhammad Tazul Islam, state defence counsel Amir Hossain and amicus curiae AY Moshiuzzaman took part in the hearing today.
An audio tape of an alleged telephone conversation between Shakil and Sheikh Hasina went viral, where she was heard saying, "There are 227 cases against me, so I have got a license to kill 227 people."
Later, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police conducted a forensic examination of the conversation and announced that it had found its 'authenticity'.
The tribunal's chief prosecutor on 30 April filed a contempt of court case accusing Shakil and Sheikh Hasina of obstructing the judicial process and issuing threats through her remarks made from India.
On that day, the tribunal accepted the complaint and ordered the accused to respond by 15 May. But since they did not file a response, they were ordered to appear before the tribunal on 25 May.
As they refrained from appearing on that day too, the tribunal ordered to publish a notice in two national dailies, asking Sheikh Hasina and Shakil to appear before it on 3 June.
The notices were published on 26 May in daily Jugantor and daily New Age, summoning the former premier and Bulbul to give explanations over a contempt of court application brought against them by the prosecution of the tribunal.
The prosecution said that even after the publication of the notice in the newspaper, Sheikh Hasina did not appear herself or explain through a lawyer. In this situation, the tribunal can serve a punishment according to the law.
