A Bangladeshi court has handed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina a 21-year prison term on corruption charges, marking the latest in a series of severe legal blows against the ex-leader.
The ruling comes just a week after she was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity.
Hasina, 78, has been living in India since her removal from power and has repeatedly ignored summonses to return home.
On November 17, she was sentenced in absentia to execution for allegedly ordering a violent suppression of a student-led uprising last year, an event that ultimately triggered her downfall.
The latest conviction relates to three corruption cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), accusing Hasina of illegally acquiring prime land in a district near Dhaka for personal and family benefit.
Judge Abdullah Al Mamun, while delivering the verdict, said Hasina’s actions reflected “a deep-seated pattern of corruption rooted in entitlement and unchecked authority,” accusing her of using state resources as though they were private property.
Her two children, US-based Sajeeb Wazed and UN official Saima Wazed, received five-year prison sentences each in connection with the same charges.
Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, escaping the country by helicopter after weeks of mass demonstrations against what protesters described as her increasingly authoritarian rule.
Public prosecutor Khan Moinul Hasan expressed dissatisfaction with the court’s ruling, saying the prosecution had sought the maximum penalty.
He indicated plans to appeal after consulting with the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Bangladesh has remained politically unstable since Hasina’s exit, with violent clashes overshadowing preparations for national elections scheduled for February 2026.
According to the United Nations, as many as 1,400 people were killed during the government’s crackdown on opposition and protesters before her administration collapsed.
Hasina has dismissed both the corruption rulings and the earlier death sentence as politically motivated, calling them biased attempts to tarnish her legacy.
She still faces several additional corruption cases, alongside her sister Sheikh Rehana and her daughter, British MP Tulip Siddiq.
