Labor MP and former minister Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced to two years in prison in Bangladesh after being tried in absentia along with 16 others on corruption charges.
She was convicted of influencing her aunt, the ousted Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, to obtain land for her family on the outskirts of the capital, Dhaka, a charge she strongly denies.
Siddiq, who lives in London and has rejected the charges, is unlikely to serve his sentence.
The sitting MP for Hampstead and Highgate continues to face a number of pending charges in Bangladesh.
Since Hasina’s regime was overthrown, Bangladeshi prosecutors have launched a series of wide-ranging legal proceedings against the former leader, her former associates and family members.
The trial involving Siddiq, who resigned as treasury minister in January over controversy surrounding her links with her aunt, has been going on in Dhaka since August.
The court documents included claims that Siddiq “forced and influenced his aunt and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to use their special power to ensure [a plot of land] for his mother Rehana Siddiq, his sister Azmina Siddiq and his brother Radwan Siddiq.”
A prosecutor from the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) earlier said Siddiq was tried as a Bangladeshi citizen because authorities had obtained her Bangladeshi passport, ID and tax number.
Siddiq’s lawyers have disputed that she is a Bangladeshi citizen, telling the Financial Times that she has “never had” an identity card or voter ID, and has “not had a passport since she was a child.”
Judge Rabiul Alam sentenced her to two years in prison and a fine of 100,000 Bangladeshi takas ($821; £620). If you do not pay, six months will be added to the sentence.
As the trial began, the parliamentarian said prosecutors had “spread false and vexatious accusations that were reported to the media but which investigators never formally presented to me.”
A statement on his behalf continued: “I have been clear from the beginning that I have done nothing wrong and will respond to any credible evidence presented to me. Continuing to smear my name to score political points is baseless and damaging.”
He has not made public comments since the verdict was handed down.
Last week, a group of senior lawyers raised concerns with Bangladesh’s representative in the UK about how the trial had been conducted.
Among the signatories of that statement were former Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, former Attorney General Dominic Grieve and Lady Cherie Blair, a human rights lawyer and wife of former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair.
In a letter first reported by The Guardian, they said Siddiq had been unable to secure adequate legal representation during the trial, adding: “Such a process is artificial and an artificial and unfair way of carrying out a prosecution.”
The verdict comes two weeks after Hasina was sentenced to death in a separate trial for her role in a brutal crackdown on protests that ultimately forced her from office in July 2024.
She was found guilty of crimes against humanity for the deaths of some 1,400 people at the hands of police.
That trial was held in Hasina’s absence, as she has been in exile in India since she was overthrown. She denied the charges.
Siddiq, whose mother is the former prime minister’s sister, continues to face a number of pending charges in Bangladesh, including two ongoing trials in relation to the allegations at the center of Monday’s verdict.
She is also being investigated for allegedly transferring a flat located in a lucrative area of Dhaka to her sister.
Last week, Hasina was sentenced to 21 years in prison after being tried in absentia along with two of her sons over a land deal in the Purbachal area of the capital, a case that ran parallel to the case against Siddiq.
Siddiq and his family have also been investigated in relation to allegations of embezzlement surrounding a £3.9bn deal in 2013 relating to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant deal.
Siddiq has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in relation to the allegations, which originated from claims made by Bobby Hajjaj, a political opponent of Hasina.
Bangladesh authorities have said they estimate that around $234bn (£174bn) was appropriated through corruption during Hasina’s reign.
Before Siddiq’s resignation from the British government, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s independent ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, said he had found “no evidence of wrongdoing” following an investigation.
However, he said it was “regrettable” that Siddiq had not been more alert to the “potential reputational risks” of his links with Hasina.
While Siddiq continued to insist that she was not guilty of any crime, she resigned from her position as minister so as not to be a “distraction” to the government.
The UK does not have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh. It is categorized as a 2B country, meaning clear evidence must be presented to lawyers and judges to authorize any extradition.
Authorities did not force Siddiq to return to Dhaka for the trial even though authorities issued an arrest warrant.
