Dhaka: General elections are scheduled to be held in Bangladesh on February 12. Ahead of the elections, a Bangladeshi magistrate on Monday sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in prison in two separate self-indulgence cases related to so-called irregularities in land typecasting in a government housing project.
What has the magistrate said?
Judge Rabiul Alam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 pronounced the verdict, sentencing Hasina to a total of 10 years imprisonment, with 5 years in each case. According to the BSS news agency, the magistrate moreover sentenced 78-year-old Sheikh Hasina, her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq (Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby), nieces Tulip Rizwana Siddiq (a British MP), and Azmina Siddiq, and others in cases of so-called irregularities in the typecasting of plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachal. Tulip Siddiq was sentenced to a total of 4 years imprisonment (2 years in each case), while Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq were sentenced to 7 years imprisonment in both cases.
Who else has been punished?
Meanwhile, Mohammad Khurshid Alam, the only accused who surrendered surpassing the court, was sentenced to one year imprisonment in each case, totaling two years. The magistrate moreover imposed a fine of 100,000 Taka (Bangladeshi currency) on all the convicts and ordered them to serve an spare six months in jail if they goof to pay the fine.
It is noteworthy that Sheikh Hasina has been living in India since seeking refuge there without widespread protests in Bangladesh on August 5 last year. She had previously been supposed a fugitive by the court. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had filed these cases alleging vituperate of power in the typecasting of 20 katha plots. According to the prosecution, the accused manipulated the typecasting process and violated the existing rules and regulations of the Capital Development Authority.
