Bangladesh Sentences Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 Years in Prison for Corruption

Guwahati:A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced deposed Prime MinisterSheikh Hasinato 10 years in prison in two separate corruption cases related to alleged irregularities in land allocations under a government housing project.Dhaka’s Special Judge’s Court handed 79-year-old Hasina rigorous imprisonment for allegedly using her official influence to allocate residential plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol, on the outskirts of the capital, to relatives and associates, including her niece, UK Labour MP Tulip Siddiq. Reacting to the sentence, Hasina described the verdict as “a Kafkaesque nightmare.”Hasina’sAwami Leaguegovernment was toppled during astudent-led violent uprising, dubbed the July Uprising, on August 5, 2024. Since then, the interim government, led byMuhammad Yunus, has launched a series of legal cases against Hasina, her associates, and family members.Earlier, a special tribunal sentenced Hasina, who is currently in exile in India, to death in a separate case for crimes against humanity linked to suppressing the uprising.In November 2025, a court sentenced Hasina to 21 years in prison on an Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) complaint, while her children, Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Saima Wazed Putul, received five-year prison terms in a different case involving Rajuk plots. On Monday, Judge Robiul Alam also handed down prison sentences to Hasina’s nieces and nephew, Azaman Siddiq and Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, who were sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment. All sentences were delivered in absentia.Only one of the 16 accused, Khurshid Alam, a senior Rajuk official responsible for land allocation, was present in court for the verdict. Other defendants, including a former junior housing minister, a former secretary, a former Rajuk chairman, and several state officials, were sentenced to five years in prison. The judge emphasised that “the trial of the accused was not obstructed, regardless of their location in the world.”Hasina’s now-disbanded Awami League condemned the sentences, calling them “entirely predictable” and “fabricated” by the interim government. Meanwhile, Tulip Siddiq described the proceedings as “flawed and farcical from beginning to end,” adding that she had received no summons, charge sheet, or correspondence from Bangladeshi authorities despite the allegations. She confirmed she had engaged lawyers in both the UK and Bangladesh to respond to the case.Related