Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to a total of 10 years’ imprisonment by a court in Dhaka over alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the RAJUK New Town Project.
In a separate case, her niece Tulip Siddiq was sentenced to four years, while Tulip’s siblings Azmina Siddiq and Radwan Mujib Siddiq were each handed seven-year prison terms in one of the two cases, the court said.
The judgements were delivered on Monday by Judge Robiul Alam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4. Proceedings began shortly after midday, and the court started reading out the verdict minutes later.
The court issued verdicts in two cases involving a total of 36 people, including Ms Hasina and several members of her extended family, over the alleged irregularities in the allocation of two 10-katha plots under the New Town Project.
Judge Robiul Alam had earlier fixed 2 February 2026 for the pronouncement of judgement in one case against 18 people, including Ms Hasina and her nieces Tulip Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq, after closing arguments from both the prosecution and defence were completed on 13 January 2026.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed that case on 13 January 2025 against 16 individuals and later submitted a charge sheet on 10 March 2025 naming 18 accused, according to case records presented during the trial.
The court concluded the recording of testimony on 5 January, when the investigation officer, ACC Assistant Director Afnan Jannat Keya, appeared as the final prosecution witness and was cross-examined by defence lawyers. A total of 31 witnesses testified in that case, the court said.
In the second case, the same court had, on 18 January, fixed 2 February for the verdict in a case against another 18 people, including Ms Hasina, her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq and his sister Tulip Siddiq.
Prosecutors called 28 witnesses in the second trial, according to the court record.
The wider proceedings formally moved to trial after the court framed charges on 31 July 2025 and ordered the start of hearings.
Among those named in the two cases were several former RAJUK officials and government administrators, alongside former senior civil servants and housing ministry figures connected to the project.
The BBC has contacted lawyers for the defendants for comment.
