bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

A Bangladesh court on Tuesday jailed the Rana Plaza owner for three years for graft, the first of many charges laid against him after the garment factory complex collapsed in 2013 and killed more than 1,130 people.
Sohel Rana was given the maximum three-year sentence by a special court in Dhaka for failing to declare his personal wealth to Bangladesh’s anti-graft commission, one of a series of charges brought after the disaster.
“This is the first time he has been convicted and jailed,” said prosecutor Salahuddin Eskander.

Eskander said Rana, who faces four other charges including murder for his role in one of the world’s worst industrial tragedies, was in court for the verdict.
He and 37 others could be sentenced to death if found guilty of murder over the factory complex’s collapse. But that trial has been delayed by appeals in the higher court.
Rana was arrested just days after the accident at the border with India as he tried to flee Bangladesh.
He became the nation’s public enemy number one in the aftermath of the disaster as survivors recounted being forced to enter the building to work despite complaining about cracks appearing in the walls.
Child labour and poisoned drinking water: Bangladeshi garment industry under fire over toxic leather trade
Rana and 17 others have also been charged with violating building codes when extending the six-storey structure by a further three floors. The illegal construction was blamed by investigators for the tragedy. His lawyer Faruque Ahmed said he would appeal the verdict.
“He was in custody when he was served the Anti Corruption Commission notice to submit his wealth statement. In the jail he was not given enough time to meet his lawyer or his family,” Ahmed said.
The disaster prompted sweeping reforms in the garment sector, including new safety inspections and higher wages in the industry which employs around four million workers, mostly women.

Bangladeshi activists welcomed the verdict against Rana, but urged prosecutors to fast-track a court date for his murder trial.
“It has been four years since the tragedy, and still this trial has not begun in full swing,” said Kalpona Akter, head of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity. “He is a cold-blooded murderer. He forced workers to work in a death chamber.”
Rana, who was linked with the ruling Awami League party, also faces a narcotics charge.
‘There are small pits of fire inside’: Bangladeshi officials struggle to search factory following deadly blaze
The Rana Plaza disaster highlighted appalling safety problems in Bangladesh’s nearly US$30 billion garment industry, the world’s second-largest exporter after China’s.
A host of Western retailers had clothing made at the complex’s five factories, including Italy’s Benetton, Spain’s Mango and the British low-cost chain Primark.
Bangladesh’s anti-graft agency has accused Rana of purchasing property with suspicious funds. The agency is also investigating his parents for allegedly hoarding more than US$2 million in ill-gotten gains.


Survivors of Bangladesh factory collapse still waiting for justice 10 years later

Five years since the nightmare of Rana Plaza, what changed for Bangladesh garment workers?

How brands can outsource production without costing lives

Bangladesh court jails owner of Rana Plaza, where 1,130 people died in collapse, for three years for graft

Bangladesh factory collapse

Bangladeshi security personnel escort Sohel Rana after a court appearance in Dhaka. Photo: AFP

FOR USE AS DESIRED, YEAR END PHOTOS - FILE - A worker leaves the site where a garment factory building collapsed near Dhaka, Bangladesh Monday, April 29, 2013. The collapse of Rana Plaza in Dhaka that killed 1,129 people. (AP Photo/Ismail Ferdous, File)

Bangladeshi civiliant volunteers assist in rescue operations after an eight-storey building collapsed in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 24, 2013. At least 15 people were killed and many more feared dead when an eight-storey building housing a market and garment factory collapsed in Bangladesh on Wednesday, officials said. AFP PHOTO/Munir uz ZAMAN / AFP PHOTO / MUNIR UZ ZAMAN [12JUNE2016 FEATURE POST MAGAZINE]

The true cost of your cheap clothes: slave wages for Bangladesh factory workers

The Lai Chi Kok block in which trading company Top Grade International Enterprise has its offices.

Workers at the Viyellatex factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, produce clothes for Marks & Spencer. Photos: Red Door News Hong Kong; AFP; Reuters; Xinhua

volunteers assist in rescue operations after the Rana Plaza collapse in Dhaka, in 2013; the area around the Viyellatex factory is largely unmaintained.

A Babylon Group factory in Dhaka.

A Sino-United States textile factory in Wuhu, Anhui province, China.

Bilkis Begum

Volunteers assist in rescue operations after the Rana Plaza collapse in Dhaka, in 2013,

The area around the Viyellatex factory is largely unmaintained.

The hand of a garment worker is seen among the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza building.

Relatives of the victims gather at the site of Rana Plaza, in 2015. 

Bangladeshi relatives of missing workers in a building that collapsed Wednesday hold pictures of their family members in Savar, near Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, April 28, 2013. Bangladesh rescuers on Sunday located nine people alive inside the rubble of the multi-story building, as authorities announced they will now use heavy equipment to drill a central hole from the top to look for survivors and dead bodies.(AP Photo/Kevin Frayer)

News

Asia

South Asia

Sohel Rana was arrested just days after the 2013 accident at the border with India as he tried to flee Bangladesh, and became the nation’s public enemy number one


Bangladesh garment industry