DHAKA, Dec 1:
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 other 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 will 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 17 accused on March 10.
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