Ex-Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to 21 years in corruption cases

A special court in Dhaka on Thursday sentenced former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 21 years in prison in three corruption cases linked to alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Purbachal New City Project.

Judge Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun of Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-5 delivered the verdict, handing Hasina seven years’ imprisonment in each of the three cases. Her children, Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Saima Wazed Putul, were each sentenced to five years in one of the cases. Among the 20 other accused, 19 received varying jail terms, while one was acquitted, according to reports in The Daily Star.

The ruling comes less than two weeks after Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentenced Hasina to death on charges of crimes against humanity in connection with protests in July last year, a verdict that has drawn widespread controversy. The tribunal also sentenced former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death and awarded five years in prison to ex-police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who turned state witness.

Security was heightened around the Dhaka Sessions Court ahead of Thursday’s judgment, with additional police checkpoints and deployments from Border Guard Bangladesh. Officials said multiple platoons of police, BGB and Rapid Action Battalion personnel had been stationed to maintain order.

Following the ICT verdict earlier this month, Hasina accused the unelected interim government led by Muhammad Yunus of orchestrating politically motivated cases to eliminate her and the Awami League from Bangladesh’s political landscape. In a statement, she described the tribunal as “rigged” and alleged that extremist elements within the interim administration were intent on silencing the country’s last elected Prime Minister.

She added that Bangladeshis “will not be fooled” by attempts to undermine their democratic rights under what she termed a chaotic and regressive interim regime.

With IANS inputs