Bangladesh court issues arrest warrants against Sheikh Hasina, family members

Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission has triggered arrest warrants against ex-PM Sheikh Hasina, family members, and 50 others in three land scam cases. Hasina, in exile since August 2024, also faces charges of serious human rights violations.  

A court in Dhaka has issued arrest warrants against ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, British MP Tulip Rizwana Siddiq, and 50 others over alleged abuse of political power in securing government land.

The order was passed on Sunday by Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain after the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed three chargesheets related to land allotment scams.

The court scheduled April 27 to review the status of warrant execution, as all 53 accused are reportedly absconding, according to the ACC’s Assistant Director (Prosecution) Aminul Islam.

The cases, filed in connection with the illegal allocation of plots in Dhaka’s Purbachal New Town Project, implicate key members of Hasina’s family across three separate FIRs.

One case names Rehana and her daughter Tulip Siddiq among 17 accused of using political connections to illegally acquire a 10-katha plot. Another chargesheet includes Hasina, Tulip, and Rehana’s son Radwan Mujib Siddiq in similar allegations. The final list of accused across all three cases includes high-profile political figures and their family members.

This is the second such legal action in less than a week. On April 10, the same court issued warrants against Hasina, her daughter Saima Wazed Putul—currently WHO’s Southeast Asia Regional Director—and 17 others in a separate plot allotment case.

Hasina, now 77, has been in exile in India since her regime was overthrown in a mass student-led uprising on August 5 last year. She also faces separate charges of mass killings, enforced disappearances, and crimes against humanity being pursued by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal.