Bangladesh's ousted leader sentenced to six months over a claim she had a license to kill

DHAKA, Bangladesh — A special tribunal has sentenced Bangladesh’s former leader Sheikh Hasina to six months in jail after she was found in contempt of court for allegedly claiming she had a license to kill at least 227 people.

Wednesday’s sentence was the first in any case against Hasina since she fled to India during a mass uprising last year that toppled her 15-year rule.

The contempt case stemmed from a leaked audio recording of a supposed phone conversation between Hasina and a leader of the student wing of her political party. A person alleged to be Hasina is heard on the audio saying: “There are 227 cases against me, so I now have a license to kill 227 people.”

The Criminal Investigation Department confirmed the audio’s authenticity through forensic analysis.

The recording showed Hasina’s anger at the charges of murder and numerous other crimes against her under the interim administration of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, who vowed to punish Hasina and her top aides for the deaths of hundreds of people in the uprising against her.

The sentencing by the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal came as a trial against her being held in absentia on charges of crimes against humanity began in June.

The tribunal had ordered Hasina and her former home minister to respond by May 15. When they failed to do so, the tribunal summoned them May 25 to appear in court June 16. Later the tribunal asked for notices to be published in newspapers asking Hasina to appear.

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The prosecution said later neither of the suspects appeared before the court or explained their absence through a lawyer. In such circumstances, the tribunal has the authority to issue a sentence under the law.

Hasina and her Awami League party had earlier criticized the tribunal and its prosecution team for their connection with political parties, especially with the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

The Yunus-led government has banned the former ruling Awami League party and amended laws to allow for the party to be prosecuted for its role during the uprising.

In February, the U.N. human rights office estimated that up to 1,400 people may have been killed in Bangladesh over three weeks in the crackdown on the student-led protests against Hasina, who was the country’s longest serving prime minister.

The tribunal was established by Hasina in 2009 to investigate and try crimes involving Bangladesh’s independence war in 1971. The tribunal under Hasina tried politicians, mostly from the Jamaat-e-Islami party, for their actions during the nine-month war against Pakistan. Aided by India, Bangladesh gained independence from Pakistan under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father and the country’s first leader.