A court in Bangladesh on Monday sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed to five years in prison on corruption charges linked to a government land project. The court also handed down a two-year prison sentence to her niece, British Labour Party lawmaker Tulip Siddiq, in the same case.Judge Rabiul Alam of Dhaka's Special Judge's Court ruled that Hasina had misused her authority while in office, while Siddiq was found guilty of using her influence to assist her mother and two siblings in obtaining a state-owned land under the Purbachal New Town project. Siddiq's mother, Sheikh Rehana, received a seven-year prison sentence and was identified as the main defendant in the case. Fourteen other suspects are also facing charges.Sheikh Hasina has been living in exile in India since being ousted in a popular uprising last year. She was sentenced to death last month over her government's violent crackdown on protesters, and had also been handed a 21-year prison sentence earlier on separate corruption charges.Siddiq, who represents London's Hampstead and Highgate constituency in the British Parliament, has denied the allegations, describing the trial as politically motivated and based on ‘fabricated accusations.’She resigned as a British government minister in January under pressure linked to her family ties.There is no extradition treaty between Bangladesh and the United Kingdom
