Dhaka’s Special Judge’s Court sentenced former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail. The verdict covers two corruption cases linked to irregular land allocations under the Rajuk New Town Project. Hasina’s nieces and nephew also received prison terms, while she was tried in absentia.
The court found Hasina guilty of misusing her official influence to allocate residential plots to family members and associates. Among those sentenced were the siblings of UK MP Tulip Siddiq. Only one official, Khurshid Alam of Rajuk, attended the trial in person. The remaining defendants received five to seven years in prison.
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Hasina’s now-disbanded Awami League called the verdict politically motivated. Party leaders said the charges were “fabricated” and “malicious” by the interim government of Muhammad Yunus. The interim government launched the cases after Hasina’s ousting in the student-led July Uprising of August 2024.
Tulip Siddiq criticized the process as “flawed and farcical” and said she had received no legal notices. She called the accusations “malicious” and confirmed she had engaged lawyers in both the UK and Bangladesh to address the matter. She also described the situation as a “Kafkaesque nightmare.”
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Hasina previously faced multiple legal cases, including a death sentence for alleged crimes against humanity during the 2024 uprising. Earlier rulings also sentenced her children to prison in related Rajuk plot cases. The verdict marks another major legal challenge for the exiled former premier.