Tulip Siddiq, left, stands beside Bangladesh’s ex- leader Sheikh Hasina (Photo credit: AP)
All 17 convicts were fined Tk 1 lakh each, with an additional six months in jail if fines remain unpaid, the state-run BSS news agency reported. The court also imposed a fine of $813 each on Hasina, Rehana, and Siddiq, and ordered the cancellation of the plot allotted to Rehana.According to The Dhaka Tribune, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed six separate cases between January 12 and 14 over alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Purbachal project. The ACC alleged that Hasina, in collusion with senior Rajuk officials, unlawfully secured six plots, each measuring 10 kathas (7,200 sq ft), in the diplomatic zone of Sector 27 for herself, her children Joy and Putul, sister Rehana, niece Siddiq, and other relatives, despite being ineligible under existing regulations. Charges were framed against 29 people, including Hasina’s children Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Saima Wazed Putul, as part of multiple cases filed in January 2025.Tulip Siddiq, who represents Hampstead and Highgate in Britain’s Parliament, had previously denied the allegations, calling the trial “a farce built on ‘fabricated accusations and driven by a clear political vendetta’.” In January, she resigned as economic secretary to the Treasury in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Cabinet, saying she had been cleared of wrongdoing but stepped down because the issue was becoming “a distraction from the work of the government,” AP quoted. This verdict is one among several against Hasina. Earlier this month, a separate Dhaka court sentenced her to 21 years in jail across three corruption cases over the same Purbachal project, with consecutive seven-year terms and fines of Tk 1 lakh per case. Joy and Putul were also sentenced to five years each in related cases, Dhaka Tribune reported. Mass protests toppled Hasina’s Awami League regime on August 5, 2024, ending her rule after which she took refuge in India. She had earlier been declared a fugitive by a Bangladeshi court. She was also sentenced to death in absentia in November for her role in the violent crackdown on student-led protests, termed the “July Uprising”, and had previously been declared a fugitive.Bangladesh’s foreign affairs adviser Mohammad Touhid Hossain said the interim government expects India to consider Hasina’s extradition “at the earliest possible time,” now that judicial proceedings against her are complete. The country is currently run by an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, which has announced that the next parliamentary elections will be held in February.
