Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to six months in prison on Wednesday by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in a contempt of court case, marking her first conviction since being ousted from power in August 2024, local media reported.

The verdict, delivered by a three-member ICT panel headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder, stemmed from a leaked phone conversation that surfaced on social media last year. In the audio, Hasina, 72, allegedly told Shakil Akand Bulbul, a former Gobindaganj upazila chairman and leader of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), “I have had 227 cases filed against me, so I have received a licence to kill 227 people.” The tribunal deemed the statement a direct affront to the court’s authority, constituting contempt.

Bulbul, also implicated in the case, received a two-month prison sentence, according to the state-run BSS news agency. The tribunal specified that the sentences would take effect upon the arrest or surrender of the convicted individuals.

Hasina’s legal troubles follow her dramatic exit from power on August 5, 2024, after a massive student-led uprising forced her to flee Dhaka. The protests, which ended her tenure, led to widespread unrest and numerous casualties, including students. Since her ouster, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, 84, has led an interim government tasked with stabilizing the country.

The former prime minister faces multiple legal battles, with cases filed against her and other Awami League leaders. Many of her former ministers and party officials are either detained or fugitive, facing trials for their roles in suppressing the 2024 uprising. The ICT, originally established in 2010 to prosecute crimes against humanity from the 1971 Liberation War, is now handling cases against Hasina and her associates for alleged human rights violations during her regime.