Dhaka: Bangladesh’s fugitive former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to six months in prison in absentia, marking the first verdict against her since she was ousted from power in August 2024. The ruling was handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
Hasina, 77, fled to neighboring India at the culmination of a student-led uprising last year and has defied multiple court orders to return to Dhaka. Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Tajul Islam stated that she will begin serving the sentence the day she either arrives in Bangladesh or surrenders to the court.
The case stemmed from comments prosecutors alleged Hasina made after her ouster, which they contended threatened witnesses in ongoing court hearings. Specifically, the contempt charges are linked to a leaked audio recording from October 2024, in which a voice identified as Hasina purportedly stated, “There are 227 cases against me, so I have obtained a license to kill 227 people.” A government forensic report reportedly confirmed the authenticity of the tape.
This conviction is the first formal sentence for Hasina, who faces numerous other charges in Bangladesh, including accusations of crimes against humanity related to the crackdown on the 2024 student protests that led to her government’s fall. A United Nations report estimated that up to 1,400 people were killed between July and August last year during the government’s attempts to quell the protests.
Hasina’s Awami League party has been banned by the interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, which assumed power after her ouster. While Hasina’s supporters maintain the cases against her are politically motivated, the caretaker government asserts that the legal proceedings are crucial for restoring public trust and ensuring accountability.
Hasina is reportedly residing in a safe house in New Delhi’s Lutyens Bungalow Zone, arranged by the Indian government. Bangladesh has formally requested her extradition to face trial.
