British MP sentenced to prison in Bangladesh graft case

A court in Bangladesh sentenced British parliamentarian and former minister Tulip Siddiq to two years in prison in a corruption case related to the alleged illegal allocation of land.

The verdict was given in absentia as Siddiq, his aunt and former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana – co-accused in the case – were not present in court.

According to local media reports, Hasina was sentenced to five years in prison and Rehana to seven years.

Hasina, who fled to neighboring India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising against her government, was sentenced to death in November over her government’s violent crackdown on demonstrators during the protests.

He was sentenced last week to a total of 21 years in prison for other corruption cases.

Prosecutors accused the three powerful defendants of abusing their power to secure the plot during Hasina’s tenure as prime minister, saying the land was unlawfully allocated through political influence and secret deals with senior officials.

Most of the 17 defendants were not present when the verdict was announced. Siddiq, who resigned as Britain’s financial services and anti-corruption minister in January after scrutiny of his financial ties to Hasina, had previously dismissed the allegations as a “politically motivated smear”.

The UK does not have an extradition agreement with Bangladesh.