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Sheikh Hasina
A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in two separate corruption cases related to alleged irregularities in allocations of land in a government housing project. Dhaka Special Judge's Court-4 Judge Rabiul Alam handed down the verdicts, sentencing Hasina to a total of 10 years' imprisonment - five years in each case, state-run BSS news agency reported. The court sentenced 78-year-old Hasina, her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq, and her nieces, Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq, and others in the cases over alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol. The judgment was pronounced at around 12.30 pm. Tulip Siddiq was sentenced to four years' imprisonment - two years in each case - while Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq were each sentenced to seven years' imprisonment in both cases. Rajuk member Mohammad Khurshid Alam, the only accused to surrender before the court, was ...
From her exile in India, Bangladesh's ousted leader Sheikh Hasina has slammed the country's upcoming election after her party was barred from the polls, remarks that could deepen tensions ahead of the pivotal vote next month. Hasina, who was sentenced to death for her crackdown on a student uprising in 2024 that killed hundreds of people and led to the toppling of her 15-year rule, warned in an email to The Associated Press last week that without inclusive and free and fair elections, Bangladesh will face prolonged instability. She also claimed that Bangladesh's interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus deliberately disenfranchised millions of her supporters by excluding her party - the former ruling Awami League - from the election. "Each time political participation is denied to a significant portion of the population, it deepens resentment, delegitimizes institutions and creates the conditions for future instability," she wrote. "A government born of ..
Bangladesh's ties with India witnessed a downturn as it navigated a turbulent 2025 marked by political instability, economic strain and alleged persecution of minorities, leading to a diplomatic tussle between the two neighbours. The relationship between India and Bangladesh hit a rough note after the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August last year following anti-government protests. She was sentenced to death in absentia by a tribunal this year for her alleged role in a deadly crackdown during the agitation. Dhaka summoned Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma five times over various issues, while India summoned Bangladesh's High Commissioner Reaz Hamidullah once to express concerns over security in Bangladesh. The transition, from what was widely regarded as an "India-friendly" Awami League government to Muhammad Yunus-led interim dispensation, significantly altered Bangladesh's diplomatic posture. Dhaka's engagement with Islamabad to deepen ties ..
A group of US lawmakers has expressed concern over the total ban of the Awami League political party ahead of elections scheduled in Bangladesh early next year. The lawmakers have said that the Bangladeshi people deserve to be able to choose an elected government in a free and fair election. Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Representative Gregory Meeks, Chairman of the Subcommittee on South and Central Asia Representative Bill Huizenga, Ranking Member Subcommittee on South and Central Asia Sydney Kamlager-Dove and Member of Congress Julie Johnson on Tuesday sent a letter to Chief Adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh Mohammed Yunus expressing concern over the total ban of a political party ahead of elections in February. The letter's cosigners include Representative Tom Suozzi. The lawmakers said that it is vital that the interim government work with parties across the political spectrum to create the conditions for free and fair elections that allow
Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma on Sunday said New Delhi's relations with Dhaka are not transient but "everlasting", hours after Bangladesh's foreign office summoned him to express its "serious concern" over "incendiary statements" made by deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who is currently in India. Hasina, 78, fled to India in August last year after her Awami League government was toppled in a violent student-led street protest and continues to stay there. She was sentenced to death by a special tribunal last month after being convicted on charges of crimes against humanity. Bangladesh has been demanding her extradition. "The bonds we share with Bangladesh are not transient; they are everlasting. A relationship forged in blood and sacrifice cannot be weakened, the envoy said, joining an event hosted by academic and cultural group Itihash O Oitijjo Parishad. Verma said India stood with the people of Bangladesh during its 1971 Liberation War and would continue to support t
The Election Commission (EC) has demanded extra security for its chief, other commissioners and officials as fresh unrest visibly gripped Bangladesh after gunmen shot an upcoming parliamentary polls candidate and frontline leader of last year's violent street movement dubbed 'July Uprising'. "The EC has written to the Inspector General of Police (IGP) urging comprehensive security arrangements for the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Election Commissioners (ECs), senior officials of the Election Commission Secretariat," the state-run BSS news agency reported on late Saturday. The EC simultaneously sought the extra security for its field-level offices ahead of the 13th national election, as two of them came under attack in southeastern Lakshmipur and southwestern Pirojpur by unidentified miscreants after the announcement of the schedule for the upcoming polls on Thursday. The commission demanded an additional escort vehicle for the CEC, while one such police escort with a vehicle w
A special tribunal in Bangladesh on Thursday issued an arrest warrant against deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's expatriate son Sajib Wajed Joy, a month after sentencing his mother to death on charges of committing crimes against humanity. "The tribunal issued the arrest warrant in a case filed against him for (as well) committing crimes against humanity during the July Uprising," an ICT-BD prosecutor told reporters, adding an identical warrant was issued against then junior minister for ICT affairs Junaid Ahmed Palak, who, however, is already in jail. Bangladesh's International Crime Tribunal (ICT-BD) handed down the death penalty to the ex-premier and her then home minister, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, for her attempts to tame a student-led violent street protest dubbed the July Uprising through brutal means after their trial in absentia. Joy, 54, an information communication expert who served as the ex-premier's ICT affairs adviser, currently lives in the US. The student-led ...
A Bangladesh court on Monday convicted and sentenced deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to five years of imprisonment and her niece, British parliamentarian Tulip Siddiq, to a two-year jail term in a land scam case. Judge Md Rabiul Alam of the Special Judge's Court-4 of Dhaka also handed down a seven-year jail term to Hasina's sister, Sheikh Rehana, in the corruption case lodged against 17 people, the state-run BSS news agency reported. The 14 other accused were jailed for five years each. The court also imposed a fine of Tk 1 lakh each on all 17 convicts, including Hasina, Rehana, and Siddiq, failing which they will have to serve an additional six months in jail. This is the fourth verdict involving 78-year-old Hasina in graft cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), The Daily Star newspaper reported. Siddiq, a British-Bangladeshi Labour Party politician, is Rehana's daughter and has been the Member of Parliament for Hampstead and Highgate since 2015. The interim .