Bangladesh jails ex-PM Hasina, hands prison terms to family in land graft case

A Bangladeshi court on Monday sentenced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in prison and her niece, British lawmaker Tulip Siddiq, to four years in jail in corruption cases tied to a government township project near the capital.

Judge Mohammed Rabiul Alam of Special Judge’s Court-4 also imposed seven-year sentences on another niece, Azmina Siddiq, and a nephew, Radwan Mujib Siddiq, over their alleged roles in securing land at the Purbachal New Town Project near Dhaka.

Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission said Hasina colluded with senior officials to illegally obtain six residential plots for herself and family members despite their ineligibility under government rules.

The verdicts come as the country’s interim administration, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, prepares for February 12 elections. 

Hasina’s former party, the Awami League, has been barred from participating.

Already convicted in similar cases

Both Hasina and Tulip Siddiq have previously been convicted in similar cases and have rejected the charges. 

Siddiq has said she never received land from the Bangladeshi government and is not a Bangladeshi citizen. Prosecutors counter that she used her influence to benefit her mother and siblings — an allegation she denies.

Hasina has already been convicted in four other corruption cases related to the same project, drawing a combined 26-year sentence. 

Her son, Sajeeb Wazed, and daughter, Saima Wazed, received five years each, while her younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, was sentenced to seven years. All are currently abroad.

The former prime minister has lived in exile in India since August 2024, when a student-led uprising ended her 15-year rule. 

She has also been sentenced to death in a separate case over crimes against humanity linked to the crackdown on protests, a process she has denounced as a “kangaroo court.” 

India has yet to respond to Bangladesh’s request for her extradition.