Bangladesh court sentences ousted PM Sheikh Hasina to 21 years in jail in 3 corruption cases

A Bangladesh court on Thursday sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to 21 years of imprisonment in three corruption cases, local media reported. The three cases were lodged over alleged irregularities in allocating plots in the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol, state-run BSS news agency said. The judge pronounced the judgment in absence of the convict as she is yet to be arrested and was tried in absentia. Hasina was sentenced to seven years in each case, totalling 21 years in prison. "The plot was allotted to Sheikh Hasina without any application and in a manner that exceeded the legally authorised jurisdiction," the court observed in its judgment.