Bangladesh court sentences Hasina to 5-year jail term, UK lawmaker niece to 2 years in land scam

A Bangladesh court on Monday convicted and sentenced deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to five years of imprisonment and her niece, British parliamentarian Tulip Siddiq, to a two-year jail term in a land scam case.

Judge Md Rabiul Alam of the Special Judge’s Court-4 of Dhaka also handed down a seven-year jail term to Hasina’s sister, Sheikh Rehana, in the corruption case lodged against 17 people, the state-run BSS news agency reported.

The court handed down the verdict in a packed courtroom in the absence of the three accused.

The 14 others accused were jailed for five years each.

The court also imposed a fine of Tk 1 lakh each on all 17 convicts, including Hasina, Rehana, and Siddiq, failing which they would have to serve an additional six months in jail.

Siddiq, a British-Bangladeshi Labour Party politician, is Rehana’s daughter and has been the Member of Parliament for Hampstead and Highgate since 2015.

The interim government in April issued an arrest warrant for Siddiq, 43, as part of investigations into corruption during Hasina’s premiership.

She was found guilty of influencing her aunt, Hasina, to secure a plot of land for her mother, brother, and sister in the outskirts of Dhaka, a charge she strongly denies.

This is the fourth verdict involving 78-year-old Hasina in graft cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), The Daily Star newspaper reported.

The ACC filed the land scam case on January 13 against 15 people, including Hasina, Rehana and Siddiq, over allegations that they unlawfully obtained plot allocations during the former premier’s tenure.

The Investigating Officer later submitted a charge sheet against the 17 accused on March 10.

According to The Dhaka Tribune, the ACC filed six separate cases between January 12 and 14 with its Dhaka Integrated District Office-1 over alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Purbachal New Town project.

The anti-graft body alleged that Hasina, in collusion with senior Rajuk officials, unlawfully secured six plots, each measuring 10 kathas (7,200 square feet), in the diplomatic zone of Sector 27 of the Purbachal New Town project for herself, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, sister Rehana, her son Bobby and daughter Azmina despite their ineligibility under existing regulations.

ACC officials said Siddiq used her power to get plots for Rehana, Bobby, and Azmina.

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) is the state-run agency responsible for monitoring compliance from planning to construction of government-aided buildings in Bangladesh.

Charges were framed against 29 people on July 31, including Hasina, Rehana, Joy, Putul, and Siddiq, in their respective cases.

On November 27, Hasina was sentenced to 21 years of rigorous imprisonment, seven years in each of the three cases filed over the Purbachal plot scam. Joy and Putul were co-accused in separate cases, one each, and were sentenced to five years of imprisonment.

According to a BBC report, Siddiq, who is based in London and has rejected the charges, is unlikely to serve the sentence.

The UK does not have an extradition treaty in place with Bangladesh. It is categorised as a 2B country, meaning clear evidence needs to be presented to lawyers and judges to authorise any extradition.

Siddiq’s lawyers have disputed that she is a Bangladeshi citizen, arguing that she has “never had” an ID card or voter ID, and “has not held a passport since she was a child”.

Siddiq, who quit as a UK treasury minister in January over controversy around her ties to Hasina, was not compelled by authorities to return to Dhaka for the trial despite authorities there issuing an arrest warrant, the report said.

Hasina has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year following a massive protest that toppled her Awami League government. She was earlier declared a fugitive by a court.

Last month, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by a special tribunal for “crimes against humanity” over her government’s brutal crackdown on student-led protests last year.

The ousted premier maintains the charges against her are “biased and politically motivated”.

Foreign Affairs Adviser M Touhid Hossain last week said Bangladesh expects a response from India to its earlier request seeking the extradition of Hasina, as the “situation is different now” with the judicial process completed and the former premier convicted.

New Delhi has said it is examining the interim government’s request to extradite Hasina and asserted that it is committed to ensuring the best interests of the people of that country.

Most Awami League leaders have either been arrested or have fled the country since the collapse of the Hasina regime.