Dhaka’s judicial hammer fell hard on Monday as a special court convicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina of corruption in the high-profile Purbachal plot scam, imposing a 10-year prison sentence. Her niece, UK Parliament member Tulip Siddiq, drew a four-year term in the same proceedings.
Judge Mohammad Rabiul Alam, presiding over Dhaka Special Judge Court-4, alongside ACC prosecutor Mir Ahmad Ali Salam, finalized the long-running probe. Twelve co-accused, including Hasina’s nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq and niece Azmina Siddiq, joined her in 10-year sentences for one count. Radwan and Azmina faced seven years each in a separate charge, with another defendant getting two years.
According to local outlet The Daily Star, five more people were sentenced to five years in an associated case. Fines of 1 lakh Taka each were levied on 22 convicts, including Hasina, with additional six-month imprisonment for defaulters.
The saga traces back further: On December 1, Hasina received five years for plot distribution flaws in Purbachal, her sister Sheikh Rehana got seven, and Tulip two. November 27 last year brought a cumulative 21 years across three ACC cases on similar grounds.
Dismissing the verdicts as vendettas, Hasina’s camp issued a sharp rebuttal. ‘We categorically reject all corruption allegations,’ it stated. ‘Our adversaries’ political agenda drives these claims, powered by an unelected interim government manipulating the ACC with biased, half-baked proof, denying us due process.’
They slammed Muhammad Yunus’s administration for dragging non-political family into the fray: ‘These charges are baseless and malicious, but worse is targeting innocents.’
Purbachal, envisioned as Dhaka’s satellite city to combat urban sprawl, allegedly saw elite insiders snag plots cheaply under Hasina’s rule, sparking outrage among land seekers. This conviction amplifies scrutiny on her 15-year reign, now under the interim government’s anti-corruption crusade.
With Hasina in exile since student-led protests toppled her last year, the ruling fuels debates on judicial independence versus political retribution. Appeals loom, but the message from Dhaka’s courts is unequivocal: past impunity ends here.