A Bangladesh court on Thursday, November 27, sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 21 years in prison in three corruption cases, according to local media reports. The cases centred on alleged irregularities in the allotment of plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachal. The verdict was delivered in her absence, as she has not been arrested and was tried in absentia.
The court ruled that Hasina received a seven-year sentence in each of the three cases, noting that the plot allotments were made without any formal application and beyond legal authority. Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission had filed six cases against Hasina and her family in January over the alleged illegal allocation of government plots. Verdicts for the remaining three cases are scheduled for December 1.
The court also handed jail sentences to two of Hasina’s children. Her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, received five years in prison along with a fine of Tk 100,000, while her daughter, Saima Wazed Putul, was sentenced to five years in jail.
