Ousted leader Hasina sentenced in Bangladesh land corruption case

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was sentenced Thursday to 21 years in prison in three corruption cases related to allocations of land in a government project.

She was sentenced to death earlier this month for crimes against humanity involving the crackdown on the mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule last year. She is in exile in India, and all of the trials have been conducted in absentia.

The three verdicts found Hasina guilty of illegally securing plots in the Purbachal New Town project for herself and her family despite their ineligibility.

Each sentence was seven years in prison, and Dhaka Special Court Judge Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun said Hasina would need to serve them consecutively.

Her son Sajeeb Wazed and daughter Saima Wazed were each sentenced to five years in prison in one of the three cases.

Other details of the verdict were not available immediately.

Hasina and her former ruling Awami League party have denounced the trials against her. She did not appoint a defense lawyer, and global human rights groups have questioned the credibility and fairness of the trial process against Hasina.

The Anti-corruption Commission filed the three cases against Hasina and her son and daughter and others after her ouster. Other cases also involve the land project, and another verdict is expected Dec. 1 in a separate case.

Bangladesh has been going through a difficult political transition under an interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, and new elections are planned in February.