A little more than a week after being handed a death sentence over the 2024 student-led uprising, Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has now been given a 21-year prison term in three separate corruption cases. Local media reported that the conviction marks yet another dramatic chapter in the nation’s ongoing political crisis, which has already led to nationwide turmoil, violent protests, and deep uncertainty about Bangladesh’s political future.
The new sentences are linked to alleged corruption in the allocation of residential plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol. According to details shared by the state-run BSS news agency, Hasina received seven years of imprisonment for each case, with the court ordering the terms to run consecutively. In its judgment, the court said that a plot was allotted to Hasina “without any application” and in “complete violation of jurisdiction,” implying that the process was manipulated to favour her.
Hasina was tried in absentia, with the judge classifying her as a fugitive from justice because she has not returned to Bangladesh since fleeing during the peak of unrest in August 2024. Her legal team has been barred from representing her inside the courtroom, and the verdict was delivered without her presence, adding to the controversy surrounding the trial process.
The former prime minister already faces the far more severe death sentence issued on November 17 by the International Crimes Tribunal. That verdict held her responsible for the brutal suppression of the 2024 student uprising that swept across Bangladesh between July and August, leaving an estimated 1,400 people dead and thousands more injured. A United Nations report attributed most fatalities to the live firing of security forces and described the period as the deadliest political violence in Bangladesh since the 1971 Liberation War.
Hasina, Bangladesh’s longest-serving leader, has dismissed the latest ruling as illegitimate. In a written statement released after the corruption verdict, she claimed the court functioned as a “rigged tribunal” designed to rubber-stamp decisions made by her political enemies rather than administer justice. She has refused to recognise the legitimacy of either conviction.
The sentencing comes at a critical moment for the country, with national elections expected in February. Observers warn that another dramatic legal blow to the former prime minister—and one that her supporters view as vindictive and politically motivated—could fuel more instability. Bangladesh continues to grapple with widespread protests, revenge attacks, and crackdowns, and the enormous political vacuum created by Hasina’s fall has left the country on edge.
Against this backdrop, the new 21-year conviction further deepens uncertainty. With political divisions hardening, security forces stretched, and public anger far from resolved, many fear the coming months could determine whether Bangladesh moves toward reconciliation—or spirals into a prolonged and volatile confrontation.
