A court in Bangladesh on Wednesday sentenced the country's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to six months in prison in a contempt of court case, according to local media reports. The verdict was given by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT).

As per the Dhaka Tribune, the punishment was decided by a three-member bench of the International Crimes Tribunal-1, led by Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder.

Along with Hasina, the court also sentenced Shakil Akand Bulbul, a political figure from Dhaka and member of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), to two months in jail under the same contempt ruling. Bulbul is originally from Gobindaganj in Gaibandha.

The contempt case was related to a leaked phone call from October last year, allegedly between Hasina and Bulbul. In that audio clip, a voice believed to be Hasina said, "227 cases have been filed against me, so I have obtained a licence to kill 227 people."

According to reports, the prosecution argued that this statement was an insult to the court and threatened the justice system. It was seen as an attempt to "intimidate those involved in ongoing war crimes trials" connected to the mass uprising in 2024.

This is the first time Sheikh Hasina has been convicted in any case since she was removed from power in August 2024. She went into exile in India 11 months ago after weeks of large protests led by a student group called Students Against Discrimination (SAD).

The SAD protests started over demands to reform job quotas but quickly turned into a major political movement. According to a United Nations report, around 1,400 people were killed during the protests and violent clashes that continued even after the fall of the Awami League government.

Hasina fled to India on August 5, and many of her ministers are now facing legal action. Just three days after she left, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus was appointed as the head of the interim government in Bangladesh.

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