Staff Reporter :
A Dhaka court Monday sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, and Rehana’s daughter Tulip Siddique in a case over alleged irregularities in the allocation of a Purbachal housing plot.
Judge Robiul Alam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 handed Hasina a five-year prison term, Rehana seven years, and Tulip two years. Each was also fined one lakh taka, with an additional six months’ imprisonment if they fail to pay.
The case centres on the allocation of a 10-katha plot in the RAJUK Purbachal New Town Project. It originally named 17 accused.
Alongside the three members of the Sheikh family, the court convicted 14 others, including former state minister for Housing and Public Works Sharif Ahmed and several former senior officials of the ministry and RAJUK.
Each received five years in prison and the same one lakh taka fine, with six months’ jail in default.
Those convicted include former senior assistant secretary Purabi Goldar;
former additional secretaries Wali Ullah and Kazi Wasi Uddin; administrative officer Md Saiful Islam Sarkar; former RAJUK chairman Md Anisur Rahman Miah; former RAJUK members Mohammad Nasir Uddin and Major (Retd) Shamsuddin Ahmed Chowdhury; as well as Tanmay Das, Mohammad Khurshid Alam, Md Nurul Islam, former assistant director Mazharul Islam, former deputy director Naeb Ali Sharif, and former personal secretary-1 to the prime minister Mohammad Salahuddin.
Proceedings began at 11:30 am, and the judge delivered the verdict immediately. The court set the date for the judgment on November 25 after both sides wrapped up their arguments.
The Anti-Corruption Commission’s Deputy Director Md Salahuddin filed the case on January 13 this year against 15 people, including Hasina, Rehana, and Tulip.
The investigation officer, ACC Assistant Director Afnan Jannat Keya, submitted the charge sheet against 17 people on March 10.
Court-4 framed charges in this case and two others on July 31, while Court-5 the same day framed charges in three similar cases.
On November 27, Dhaka Special Judge Court-5 sentenced Sheikh Hasina to 21 years in prison in three related cases. Her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and daughter, Saima Wazed Putul, were each handed five-year terms in separate cases tied to plot allocation.
In those three cases, 22 of the 23 accused were found guilty and given varying prison sentences.
The International Crimes Tribunal on 17 November sentenced ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for crimes against humanity linked to the July Uprising.
Hasina was found guilty on multiple counts related to the violent suppression of mass, student-led protests in July and August 2024.
The charges included incitement, ordering the use of lethal force, and failing to prevent atrocities, which resulted in an estimated 1,400 deaths.
Former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun received a five-year prison term after admitting his involvement and testifying as a public witness against the two.
