A Bangladesh court on Thursday sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 21 years in prison in three corruption cases related to irregularities in the allocation of land in a government housing project.
Judge Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun of Dhaka Special Court-5 sentenced the 78-year-old former prime minister to seven years each in three corruption cases in the Rajuk New Town project in Purbachal, for a total of 21 years, PTI reported.
The judge said Hasina would serve them in turn.
The judge also fined Hasina Taka one million in each case, or 18 months more in jail if she fails to produce the amount. Judge Mamun also sentenced Hasa’s son Sajib Wajed Joy and daughter Saima Wazed Putul to five years in prison in cases brought against them in a housing project near the capital.
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Joy and Putul were fined Taka one lakh each, or one month more in default. “The land was allotted to Sheikh Hasina without any request and in a manner beyond the jurisdiction allowed by law,” Justice Mamun said while delivering the judgement, PTI reported.
The verdict came 10 days after Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal for “crimes against humanity” for her government’s brutal crackdown on student-led protests last year.
Hasina says the allegations against her are “biased and politically motivated”.
Where is Hasina?
Hasina, 77, has been living in India since August 5 last year when she fled Bangladesh following a massive student-led protest that toppled the 16-year-old Awami League regime.
She was previously declared a fugitive by the court.
A day earlier, Foreign Affairs Adviser M Touhid Hossain said Bangladesh was awaiting a response from New Delhi on its earlier request for Hasina’s extradition, noting that “the situation has now changed” as the trial ended and the former prime minister was convicted.
What did India say to Bangladesh’s request to extradite Hasina?
India said on Wednesday it was reviewing the interim government’s request for Hasina’s extradition, stressing that it remained committed to protecting the interests of the Bangladeshi people.
Speaking at a weekly media briefing, MEA spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi had formally received Dhaka’s communication on the matter and stressed that India remained committed to the stability of Bangladesh and the welfare of its people as part of its “ongoing judicial and internal legal processes”.
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“Yes, we have received the request and the request is being reviewed. Through the ongoing judicial and internal legal processes, we remain committed to promoting the best interests of the people of Bangladesh, including peace, democracy, inclusion and stability in this country, and will continue to engage constructively with all state stakeholders in this regard,” Jaiswal said.
Since the fall of the Hasina government, most Awami League leaders have either been detained or fled the country.
If the death penalty is abolished?
No, Sheikh Hasina’s 21-year prison sentence in corruption cases does not overturn her death sentence.
Death penalty by the International Criminal Tribunal (for international crimes) and imprisonment by a regular anti-corruption court. Under Bangladeshi law, multiple convictions do not automatically invalidate harsher sentences, and the death penalty takes precedence if it is carried out.
1898 Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Section 35 of the 1860 Penal Code, separate convictions for different offenses do not automatically vacate a more severe punishment such as the death penalty.
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The corruption conviction does not affect the verdict for crimes against humanity, and no appeals or legal action has so far overturned the death penalty.
However, Hasina’s lawyers have filed an appeal with the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, citing concerns about a fair trial, but no domestic appeal has been heard or decided.
Bangladesh has been mired in political chaos since the end of Hasina’s rule, and the violence has marred the campaign ahead of elections scheduled for February 2026.
The United Nations says up to 1,400 people have been killed in the crackdown as Hasina tried to hang on to power.
(With input from agencies)
