Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina Sentenced to 21 Years in Three Corruption Cases

Dhaka, Nov 2025 : A Bangladesh court on Thursday sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to a total of 21 years in prison in three corruption cases linked to alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Purbachal New City Project. The cases were filed by the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

The verdict marks yet another major legal setback for Hasina, coming just days after Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on November 17 handed her a death sentence for alleged crimes against humanity connected to the mass demonstrations in July last year. The ICT verdict also convicted two of her close associates—former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, who was sentenced to death, and former Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, who turned state witness and received a five-year prison term.

Delivering the corruption case verdict on Thursday, Judge Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun of Dhaka Special Judge’s Court–5 sentenced Hasina to seven years of imprisonment in each of the three cases. Her son, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and daughter, Saima Wazed Putul, were each sentenced to five years in one of the cases.

Of the 20 other accused, 19 received varying prison sentences, while one individual was acquitted in all three cases, according to reports in leading Bangladeshi media.

Security was significantly tightened around the Dhaka Sessions Court ahead of the high-profile judgment. Additional police checkpoints were set up, and personnel from the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed to maintain order.

“In addition to our regular members, two extra platoons of police have been deployed. Two platoons of BGB personnel are also on duty. Local police and RAB members are patrolling the surrounding areas,” Miah Mohammad Ashis Bin Hasan, Deputy Commissioner of the Prosecution Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police,mentioned.

Following the ICT’s earlier ruling, Hasina strongly denounced the verdict, alleging that it was issued by a “rigged tribunal” backed by the unelected interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. She claimed the tribunal lacked legitimacy and that its decisions were politically motivated.

In a statement issued after last week’s ruling, Hasina said, “In their distasteful call for the death penalty, they reveal the brazen and murderous intent of extremist figures within the interim government to remove Bangladesh’s last elected Prime Minister and to nullify the Awami League as a political force. Millions of Bangladeshis, suffering under the chaotic, violent, and socially regressive administration of Dr. Muhammad Yunus, will not be fooled by this attempt to short-change them of their democratic rights.”

(The content of this article is sourced from a news agency and has not been edited by the Mavericknews30 team.)