The International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced Jubo League leader MH Patwari Babu to two months of rigorous imprisonment for contempt of court after he referred to the tribunal as a “kangaroo court” and made unsubstantiated claims about financial transactions in a Facebook post.
During the hearing on Sunday, after Babu surrendered following an arrest warrant, the tribunal chairman posed an unusual question to the accused: “Have you ever seen a kangaroo?”
Babu replied, “No, sir. I made a mistake. I apologise. I was not in my right mind.”
The tribunal had initially sentenced Babu to one year in prison, but the sentence was reduced to three months and then to two months at the request of the Chief Prosecutor.
The court also acquitted Babu’s wife, Ismat Jerin, of contempt charges and warned both against making such posts in the future.
According to prosecution sources, Babu had posted on Facebook calling the tribunal an illegal “kangaroo court” and claiming that Tk 12,000 crore had been transacted in a case involving former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
During the hearing, the court asked Babu to write “Tk 12,000 crore” in numbers. When asked to write 12,000, he wrote 1,20,000 instead, causing laughter in the courtroom.
Prosecutor Tanvir Joha informed the tribunal that following court orders, a raid was conducted at Babu’s house in Mirpur’s Sheorapara area on 7 April. His mobile phone was seized from his wife, who later pledged to produce him before the court within four days.
Joha also alleged that Babu was an active member of a secret “Cyber Squad” group comprising leaders and activists of Awami League and its affiliated organisations across 64 districts, whose primary task was to spread baseless, fabricated, and motivated propaganda on social media.
Babu claimed he had copied the post from another ID, but verification showed he had posted it from his own account on April 4. He unconditionally apologised to the tribunal and pledged not to make such provocative posts in the future.
