Sheikh Hasina sentenced to six months in prison for contempt of court
The verdict was delivered by a three-member bench of the tribunal that looked at a leaked phone call between Hasina and former Chhatra League leader Shakil Akanda Bulbul.
The Chhatra League is the banned student wing of Hasina's Awami League party.
The purported conversation, which was shared on social media last year, features Hasina allegedly saying: 'I have had 227 cases filed against me, so I have received a licence to kill 227 people'.
The tribunal ruled that the comment showed contempt for the judiciary and was intended to undermine legal processes, The Daily Star reported.
Bulbul has also been sentenced to two months in jail.
The sentences will come into effect when the persons either surrender or are taken into custody, The Dhaka Tribune reported.
The matter was brought before the tribunal on April 30 by Chief Prosecutor Tajul Islam, who argued that the statement could intimidate witnesses and victims involved in trials related to alleged crimes against humanity connected to the July 2024 protests.
A forensic report by a government investigative agency had confirmed that the voice in the clip was that of Hasina, Reuters reported.
Following this, the tribunal instructed Hasina and Bulbul to submit written explanations by May 25. Neither of them complied.
The court issued summons through public notices in two national newspapers, calling for their appearance or a response from Hasina's legal team by June 3.
Since Hasina did not respond or appear before the court, the tribunal proceeded to sentence her in absentia.
This is the first time that the ousted prime minister has been sentenced in any case since she fled the country in August 2024, according to Reuters.
On June 1, Hasina was also charged by the tribunal with crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the protests against her government in July and August last year. She has been charged with having instigated mass killings during the protests.
Hasina had resigned as the prime minister and fled to India on August 5, 2024, after several weeks of widespread student-led protests against her government. She had been in power for 16 years.
Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate economist, took over as chief adviser of Bangladesh's interim government three days later.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
&w=3840&q=100)
Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Air India cockpit recording suggests captain cut off fuel supply: Report
The US assessment is not contained in a formal document, said the source, who emphasized the cause of the June 12 crash in Ahmedabad, India, that killed 260 people remains under investigation Reuters WASHINGTON/SEATTLE A cockpit recording of dialogue between the two pilots of the Air India flight that crashed last month supports the view that the captain cut the flow of fuel to the plane's engines, said a source briefed on US officials' early assessment of evidence. The first officer was at the controls of the Boeing 787 and asked the captain why he moved the fuel switches into a position that starved the engines of fuel and requested that he restore the fuel flow, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the matter remains under investigation. The US assessment is not contained in a formal document, said the source, who emphasized the cause of the June 12 crash in Ahmedabad, India, that killed 260 people remains under investigation. There was no cockpit video recording definitively showing which pilot flipped the switches, but the weight of evidence from the conversation points to the captain, according to the early assessment. India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), which is leading the investigation into the crash, said in a statement on Thursday that "certain sections of the international media are repeatedly attempting to draw conclusions through selective and unverified reporting." It added the investigation was ongoing and it remained too early to draw definitive conclusions. The Wall Street Journal first reported similar information on Wednesday about the world's deadliest aviation accident in a decade. The Federation of Indian Pilots, through its Indian law firm APJ-SLG Law Offices, sent a legal notice to Reuters about a July 17 story published by the news agency which referenced the WSJ article. The notice asked Reuters to desist from publication of any content "that speculates on the cause of the crash or attributes fault to any individuals, especially deceased pilots, in the absence of official confirmation and final report." Most air crashes are caused by multiple factors, and under international rules, a final report is expected within a year of an accident. A preliminary report released by the AAIB on Saturday said one pilot was heard on the cockpit voice recorder asking the other why he cut off the fuel and "the other pilot responded that he did not do so." Investigators did not identify which remarks were made by Captain Sumeet Sabharwal and which by First Officer Clive Kunder, who had total flying experience of 15,638 hours and 3,403 hours, respectively. The AAIB's preliminary report said the fuel switches had switched from "run" to "cutoff" a second apart just after takeoff, but it did not say how they were moved. Almost immediately after the plane lifted off the ground, closed-circuit TV footage showed a backup energy source called a ram air turbine had deployed, indicating a loss of power from the engines. The London-bound plane began to lose thrust, and after reaching a height of 650 feet, the jet started to sink. The fuel switches for both engines were turned back to "run", and the airplane automatically tried restarting the engines, the report said. But the plane was too low and too slow to be able to recover, aviation safety expert John Nance told Reuters. The plane clipped some trees and a chimney before crashing in a fireball into a building on a nearby medical college campus, the report said, killing 19 people on the ground and 241 of the 242 on board the 787. NO SAFETY RECOMMENDATIONS In an internal memo on Monday, Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said the preliminary report found no mechanical or maintenance faults and that all required maintenance had been carried out. The AAIB's preliminary report had no safety recommendations for Boeing or engine manufacturer GE. After the report was released, the US Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing privately issued notifications that the fuel switch locks on Boeing planes are safe, a document seen by Reuters showed and four sources with knowledge of the matter said. The US National Transportation Safety Board has been assisting with the Air India investigation and its Chair Jennifer Homendy has been fully briefed on all aspects, a board spokesperson said. That includes the cockpit voice recording and details from the flight data recorder that the NTSB team assisted the AAIB in reading out, the spokesperson added. "The safety of international air travel depends on learning as much as we can from these rare events so that industry and regulators can improve aviation safety," Homendy said in a statement. "And if there are no immediate safety issues discovered, we need to know that as well." The circumstantial evidence increasingly indicates that a crew member flipped the engine fuel switches, Nance said, given there was "no other rational explanation" that was consistent with the information released to date. Nonetheless, investigators "still have to dig into all the factors" and rule out other possible contributing factors which would take time, he said. The Air India crash has rekindled debate over adding flight deck cameras, known as cockpit image recorders, on airliners. Nance said investigators likely would have benefited greatly from having video footage of the cockpit during the Air India flight. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
Putin-Trump Meeting In Beijing In October? Kremlin Says ‘Can't Rule It Out'
'You know that we are preparing for a trip to Beijing, our president is preparing for this trip… But we have not heard that President Trump is also going there, to Beijing," news agency Reuters quoted Peskov as saying. Upon being asked about a potential meeting between the two leaders, possibly involving Chinese President Xi Jinping, Peskov stated a meeting could be considered if Trump is present. 'If it so happens that (Trump) is there, then, of course, we cannot rule out that the question of the expediency of holding a meeting will be raised," Peskov said. Last week, The Times reported that China may be positioning itself to host a summit between Trump and Putin. The two leaders have held at least six phone calls since Trump returned to Oval Office in January this year. The Kremlin has expressed support for a face-to-face meeting but emphasized that it would require careful preparation to ensure concrete outcomes.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
2 hours ago
- First Post
‘Yemen's fate is the same as Tehran's': Israel launches strikes on Houthis, targets Hodeidah port
The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said on Monday that a series of attacks on the Hodeidah port was under way, without providing any details. read more Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz waits for his British and French counterparts ahead of a meeting, amid the conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jerusalem August 16, 2024. Source: Reuters The Israeli military attacked Houthi targets in Yemen's Hodeidah port on Monday in its latest assault on the Iran-backed militants, who have been striking ships bound for Israel and launching missiles against it. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the army was 'forcefully countering any attempt to restore the terror infrastructure previously attacked'. The Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said on Monday that a series of attacks on the port was under way, without providing any details. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In a statement, the Israeli military said the port it attacked had been used 'among other things, to transfer weapons from the Iranian regime, which are then used by the Houthi to execute terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and its allies.' Since Israel's war in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group Hamas began in October 2023, the Iran-aligned Houthis have been attacking vessels in the Red Sea in what they say are acts of solidarity with the Palestinians. Israel has responded by launching attacks on Houthis, who control the most populous parts of Yemen, including the vital Hodeidah port. 'As I have made clear – Yemen's fate is the same as Tehran's. The Houthis will pay a heavy price for launching missiles toward the State of Israel,' Katz said. Earlier in July, the Houthis claimed responsibility for an attack on the Greek ship Eternity C that maritime officials say killed four of the 25 people aboard. In May, the U.S. announced a surprise deal with the Houthis where it agreed to stop a bombing campaign against them in return for an end to shipping attacks, though the Houthis said the deal did not include sparing Israel. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)
