Bangladesh's former leader Hasina sentenced to 10 more years in jail

A Bangladeshi court on Monday sentenced former prime minister Sheikh Hasina to an additional 10 years in prison in two corruption cases linked to irregularities in a government housing project.

The Dhaka-based court also handed prison terms in absentia to Hasina's nephew, Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, and her nieces, Azmina Siddiq Rupanti and Tulip Siddiq, according to a lawyer for the state-run Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

The defendants were accused of abusing power and concealing asset information to illegally secure allocations for two land plots in Dhaka's Purbachal New Town project, the cases filed by the ACC alleged. Hasina received five years in each case, totaling 10 years.

Hasina has been in exile in India since fleeing Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, amid a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule.

A special court in Dhaka previously sentenced her to death for her role in last year's violent suppression of mass protests that led to her ouster.

In November, a separate court sentenced Hasina to 21 years in three other graft cases related to land allocations in the same Purbachal project.

In the latest charges, lawyer Khan Mohammad Moinul Hasan said Bobby and Rupanti were each sentenced to seven years in jail, while Tulip Siddiq, a British Labour MP, was sentenced to two years in each case, for a total of four years.

The court found that Siddiq had influenced her aunt, Hasina, to secure the plots for her brother and sister, said the lawyer.

Siddiq, who has denied all allegations, resigned as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's anti-corruption minister last year amid controversy over her family ties to Hasina's government.