Bangladesh: Former PM Sheikh Hasina, several others indicted over alleged irregularities

Dhaka: Bangladeshi courts on Thursday brought charges against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed Joy, daughter Saima Wazed Putul, and several others in connection with six cases over alleged corruption under the Purbachal New Town project.

Following a hearing on the cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) of the country, Judge Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun of Dhaka Special Judge Court-5 framed charges on three cases. Additionally, Judge Rabiul Alam of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 indicted them in the remaining three cases, local media reported.

“Charges have been framed against the accused in three cases. In one of these cases, 12 people including Sheikh Hasina, in the second, 17 including Sheikh Hasina and Sajeeb Wazed Joy, and in the third, 18 people including Sheikh Hasina and Saima Wazed Putul,” the country’s leading Bengali daily ‘Jugantor’ quoted ACC Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam as saying.

The courts also issued arrest warrants against them and fixed August 13 to record the testimonies of prosecution witnesses.

Bangladesh Awami League’s media cell on Wednesday reported that the country is witnessing an alarming surge in “fake legal cases, mob violence, and political revenge” under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

The party highlighted a “collapse of the justice system” in Bangladesh amid a “tsunami of fake cases” since the fall of the democratically-elected Awami League government.

Earlier this month, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh sentenced Hasina to a six-month prison sentence on charges of contempt of court.

Additionally, Shakil Akanda Bulbul, a leader of the Awami League’s student wing Chhatra League, was sentenced to two months in jail in connection with the same case.

The three-member tribunal, headed by ICT Chairman Justice Golam Mortuza Majumdar, passed the judgment, local media reported.

The prosecutor filed contempt of court charges against Hasina and the Chhatra League leader based on a viral audio clip leaked on social media that featured the former Prime Minister and allegedly showed her interfering in the judicial process and issuing threats to the tribunal.

Last month, the ICT issued a show-cause notice to Hasina, who left the country in August 2024, and Bulbul in the alleged contempt of court case.

Analysts reckon the developments as a major political vendetta being pursued by the interim government led by Yunus, as several cases were filed against the former PM and her supporters on frivolous grounds immediately after her ouster in August 2024.

A leading voice in the struggle to restore democracy in the country, Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had to flee the country in an ignominious manner and seek refuge in India.

IANS