Sheikh Hasina Archives - Defence Monitor

01 Dec

Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina sentenced to five years jail in graft case

Dhaka, Dec 1 (IANS) A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to five years in prison over irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Purbachal New Town project, local media reported. Additionally, Hasina’s sister, Sheikh Rehana, was handed a seven-year sentence, while her niece, British MP Tulip Siddiq, received two years' imprisonment. Judge Md Rabiul Alam of the Special Judge's Court-4 of Dhaka announced the verdict in the absence of the three accused amid heightened security outside the court premises. The 14 other accused were jailed for five years each in the same case, and…

17 Nov

Sheikh Hasina slams verdict given by ‘rigged tribunal’, calls it ‘biased’ and ‘politically motivated’

Dhaka, Nov 17 (IANS) Bangladesh's former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday alleged that the verdict announced against her came from a “rigged tribunal” set up and presided over by the unelected interim government led by Muhammad Yunus which lacks a democratic mandate, calling the ruling "biased" and "politically motivated". The remarks came after Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) pronounced a death sentence for former Prime Minister after it found her guilty on the charges of crimes against humanity related to the demonstrations in July of last year. “In their distasteful call for the death penalty, they reveal the brazen…

10 Jan

B’desh PM Sheikh Hasina takes oath for historic 4th term in office

Dhaka, Jan 10, Following the ruling Awami League's (AL) win in the January 7 Bangladesh general elections, incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina took the oath of office on Wednesday for her historic fourth-consecutive term. The oath to Hasina and other newly-elected MPs was administered by Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, reports Xinhua news agency. Apart from this, independent MPs-elect and newly-elected legislators were also sworn in at the ceremony. According to a gazette notification published by the Election Commission on Tuesday, the ruling AL won 223 out of 298 seats in the polls conducted on Sunday, more than enough for…

04 Nov

Sheikh Hasina is world’s longest-serving female head of govt

Dhaka, Nov 4, At 76-years-old, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is a political phenomenon who has guided the rise of this nation of 170 million from rustic jute producer into the Asia-Pacific’s fastest-expanding economy over the past decade, Time said in a cover story on the world's longest-serving female head of govt. In office since 2009, after an earlier term from 1996 to 2001, she has been credited with subduing both resurgent Islamists and a once meddlesome military, Time said. Having already won more elections than late Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher or Indira Gandhi, Hasina is determined to extend that run…