Bangladesh has sentenced former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and her niece, Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, to jail in a corruption probe.
The country’s corruption watchdog alleges that Hasina colluded with government officials to illegally secure six plots for herself and her family in a development near the capital, Dhaka.
Now she’s been sentenced to 10 years in jail, and Siddiq to four years, with another niece, Azmina Siddiq, and nephew, Radwan Mujib Siddiq, each receiving seven-year sentences.
The charges pertain to Purbachal New Town Project, a planned township comprising more than 25,000 residential plots.
Both Hasina and Tulip Siddiq have already been sentenced in similar cases, and have condemned those verdicts.
The latter says she obtained no land from the government during her aunt’s 15 years in office as she is not a citizen of Bangladesh.
She also rejects the claim, advanced by the prosecution, that she influenced her aunt to provide her mother and two siblings with land in the project.
Responding to the verdict, a Labour spokesperson said the party “cannot recognise this judgment”.
Tulip Siddiq, right, and Keir Starmer, left, meet Richard Ratcliffe, husband of Iranian detainee Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, in 2021. Pic: PA
Their statement said: “As has been reported, highly regarded senior legal professionals have highlighted that Tulip Siddiq has not had access to a fair legal process in this case and has never been informed of the details of the charges against her.
“This is despite repeated requests made to the Bangladeshi authorities through her legal team.
“Anyone facing any charge should always be afforded the right to make legal representations when allegations are made against them.
“Given that has not happened in this case, we cannot recognise this judgment.”
Sheikh Hasina speaks during a press conference in Dhaka in 2014. Pic: AP
Four more corruption cases relating to the Purbachal project saw Hasina sentenced to 26 years in prison, accused of misusing power.
The court also sentenced her son, Sajeeb Wazed, and daughter, Saima Wazed, to five years each, while Hasina’s younger sister, Sheikh Rehana, was sentenced to seven years.
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Hasina has been sentenced to death too, accused of crimes against humanity during the student-led uprising that ousted her from office, when hundreds were killed.
She has dismissed the special tribunal that tried her as “a kangaroo court”.
All of them are currently abroad, with Hasina now in India, and Tulip Siddiq resident in the UK.
India has not responded to a request from Bangladesh to extradite Hasina.
The verdicts come only days before Bangladesh heads to the polls, though Hasina’s former ruling Awami League party is banned from participating.
The interim government is led by by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus.
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