Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her niece, British Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, have been sentenced to prison in a corruption case days before national elections, raising questions about whether this represents justice or political score-settling in the fraught transition to democratic governance.
A special court in Dhaka sentenced Hasina, 77, to 15 years imprisonment for alleged embezzlement of ₹3,000 crore (approximately $350 million) in public funds during her tenure as Prime Minister. Siddiq, who represents Hampstead and Highgate in the UK Parliament, received a 10-year sentence for allegedly facilitating money laundering through British financial institutions.
Both women deny the charges and were tried in absentia. Hasina fled to India in August 2024 following massive protests that forced her resignation after 15 years in power. Siddiq remains in London, where she has denounced the proceedings as a "political witch hunt."
The timing is explosive. Bangladesh holds national elections on February 12 - just five days away - in what will be the country's first democratic transition following last year's student-led uprising that toppled Hasina's increasingly authoritarian government.
Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel laureate economist leading the interim government, has pledged the elections will be free and fair. His administration insists the corruption prosecutions are about accountability, not politics.
But international observers are skeptical. Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch, told AP News that rushing major corruption trials just before elections creates the appearance of political motivation, even if the underlying allegations have merit.
The charges against Hasina center on the Padma Bridge project, Bangladesh's largest infrastructure investment. Prosecutors allege she and family members siphoned off construction funds through shell companies. Siddiq, who served as an economic adviser to Hasina's government while simultaneously sitting in the UK Parliament, allegedly helped transfer funds to British accounts.
A billion people aren't a statistic - they're a billion stories. For Nasrin Akhter, a garment worker in Dhaka who joined last year's protests, the verdict feels overdue. "We watched them get rich while we could barely eat," she said. "This is justice."
But for Kamal Hossain, a lawyer and Awami League supporter, the trial was compromised from the start. "They didn't allow defense witnesses. They didn't permit lawyers for the accused to cross-examine. This isn't justice - it's revenge."
The case has created diplomatic tension between Bangladesh and the United Kingdom. British Foreign Secretary David Lammy summoned Bangladesh's High Commissioner to express concern about the trial of a sitting British MP. Labour Party leadership has stood by Siddiq while acknowledging the seriousness of the allegations.
Siddiq released a statement calling the verdict "a travesty of justice conducted by a kangaroo court." She maintains she provided only voluntary economic advice to Bangladesh and has never facilitated financial transfers. "I'm being punished for my family connection to Sheikh Hasina and for being a visible British Bangladeshi woman in politics," she said.
Legal experts note that Bangladesh cannot enforce the sentences while both women remain abroad. Hasina is unlikely to return from India, which has historically provided sanctuary to Bangladeshi political leaders. The UK will not extradite Siddiq given concerns about trial fairness.
So what's the point of these convictions?
Political analyst Ali Riaz at Illinois State University suggests the interim government is signaling to voters that the old guard faces consequences - even if those consequences are largely symbolic. "Accountability theater serves a political function in transitional moments," he said.
For Bangladesh's 170 million people, the larger question is whether the upcoming elections will finally deliver the democratic governance the protests demanded, or whether new political forces will simply replicate old patterns of corruption and authoritarianism.
Early polling suggests the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) will likely win a plurality, potentially forming a coalition government. The Awami League, Hasina's party, is fielding candidates but faces an uphill battle given last year's tumultuous exit.
The verdict against Hasina and Siddiq ensures that Bangladesh's political transition will be colored by questions of justice, revenge, and whether any accountability mechanism can be truly independent when elections loom just days away.
