SANN News
A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her niece, British MP Tulip Siddique, to 10 years and four years in prison respectively in two corruption cases related to a government township project near the capital.
Judge Mohammad Rabiul Alam of Special Judges’ Court-4 also sentenced another niece, Azmina Siddique, and nephew Radwan Mujib Siddique, to seven years in prison. The country’s official corruption watchdog had filed a case alleging that Hasina colluded with government officials to illegally secure six plots for herself and her family members in the Purbachal New Town project near Dhaka, despite being ineligible under government rules.
The ruling came as the interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus prepares for elections on February 12. Hasina’s former ruling Awami League party is barred from contesting the polls.
Both Hasina and Tulip Siddique have previously been convicted in similar cases and have condemned the verdict. Siddique has said she did not take any land from the government during her aunt’s 15-year rule because she is not a Bangladeshi citizen. But prosecutors allege she influenced her aunt to provide land for her mother and two siblings in the project, a charge Siddique has strongly denied.
Hasina was previously convicted of abuse of power in four other corruption cases related to the project. In those cases, the court sentenced her to a total of 26 years in prison, while her son Sajib Wajed and daughter Saima Wajed were sentenced to five years each. Hasina’s younger sister Sheikh Rehana was sentenced to seven years. They are all currently abroad. Tulip Siddique lives in the UK.
Hasina has been in exile in India since August 5, 2024, after being ousted following a student-led uprising and ending her 15-year rule. She was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity after hundreds of people were killed in the uprising. She has condemned the trial process, calling the special tribunal a “kangaroo court.”
India has not yet responded to Bangladesh’s request to extradite Hasina.
