Bangladesh court sentences UK MP Tulip Siddiq to two years in prison in absentia | Tulip Siddiq
A court in Bangladesh has sentenced British MP Tulip Siddiqui to two years in prison after a judge ruled that she was complicit in corrupt land deals with the country’s deposed prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and her aunt.
In a ruling handed down on Monday, a judge found Siddiq, the Labor MP for Hampstead and Highgate, guilty of abusing his “special influence” as a British politician to force Hasina to give valuable plots of land to her mother, brother and sister.
Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, was sentenced to seven years in prison and was considered the main participant in the case.
The trial was held in absentia, and neither Hasina, Siddiq, Rehana nor more than a dozen family members accused in the case were in court when the verdict was read on Monday.
The UK does not have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh and Siddiqui is unlikely to serve the sentence.
Siddiq denied the charges, claiming that most of the evidence presented by prosecutors was fake. Although he said that he had not carried a Bangladeshi passport since his childhood and had never paid taxes there, he was tried as a Bangladeshi citizen with his passport and tax identification document.
Last week, a group of prominent British lawyers, including a former Conservative justice minister, told the Bangladesh ambassador that the case against Siddiqui was “artificial, contrived and unfair”.
Because of their absence, the defendants in the case were not allowed to meet with their defense attorneys, and a lawyer and others who tried to represent Siddiqui claimed that he was threatened and placed under house arrest.
Former cabinet minister Siddiq claimed he was caught up in a politically motivated attack on his aunt Hasina, whose 15-year rule in Bangladesh was tainted by authoritarianism, corruption and human rights abuses.
Last month, Hasina was found guilty of crimes against humanity by a special court in Dhaka for her role in the massacre of more than 1,000 people who participated in anti-government protests last year, which ultimately led to her downfall.
Last week he was sentenced to an additional 21 years in prison on corruption charges.
Hasina has remained in exile in India since she fell from power in August 2024, and the country has yet to respond to Bangladesh’s extradition requests for her to return to serve her sentence.
During Hasina’s tenure, Siddiq was photographed with Hasina in Bangladesh several times.
He left his post as Treasury secretary in January amid allegations that he used properties linked to the Hasina regime, but an investigation later found he had not violated any rules.
