Sheikh Hasina Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment as Deposed Prime Minister of Bangladesh

Key facts

• The Dhaka Special Judge's Court sentenced 79-year-old deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment in absentia across two corruption cases.
• The sentencing involves alleged irregularities in the allocation of residential plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol.
• The court sentenced Hasina's nieces, Tulip Siddiq (United Kingdom (UK) Labour Member of Parliament (MP) and former British minister) and Azaman Siddiq, and her nephew, Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, to seven years of rigorous imprisonment in absentia.
• Other accused individuals, including a former junior minister for housing, a former secretary of the ministry, and a former Rajuk Chairman, were sentenced to five years of imprisonment.
• Khurshid Alam, a senior official of Rajuk, was the only individual among the 16 accused who was tried in person and present during the verdict.
• Sheikh Hasina was previously sentenced to 21 years' imprisonment on 27 November following a complaint by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
• Her children, Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Saima Wazed Putul, were each handed five-year prison sentences in a separate case involving Rajuk plots.
• A special tribunal earlier sentenced the former Prime Minister, currently in exile in India, to death for crimes against humanity during the July Uprising on 5 August 2024.