Tulip Siddiq MP given jail sentence in Bangladesh after trial in her absence

After being arrested in her absence with 16 others over corruption allegations, Labour MP and former Minister Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced to two years in jail in Bangladesh. She was found guilty of influencing her aunt, Bangladesh's deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to buy a plot of land for her family in the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, a charge she strongly rejects. Sidddiq, a London-based company that has dropped the charges, is unlikely to serve the term. The Labour MP said in a tweet that the entire procedure had been "flawed and farcical from the start to the end.

The decision of this kangaroo court is as predictable as it is unjustified,

she said. I hope this so-called 'verdict' will be treated with the contempt it so richly deserves.

My primary concern has always been my constituents in Hampstead and Highgate, and I refuse to be distracted by Bangladesh's tumultuous politics.

Prosecutors in Bangladesh have opened a slew of court suits against Hasina's former chief, her former associates, and family members after her regime was overturned. Siddiq - who resigned as a Treasury minister in January due to controversies surrounding her aunt's ties in Dhaka, has been playing out in Dha since August. Sidddiq is facing a number of outstanding charges. According to legal records, Siddiq

forced and coerced her aunt, and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's use of her special power to purchase [a plot of land] for her mother Rehana Siddeq, sister Azmina Sisdiqui, and brother Rad SIDdiq was arrested as a Bangladeshi citizen, ACCording to a prosecutor for Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), as soon as authorities obtained her Bangladeshi passport, ID, and tax number. SIDdiq's lawyers have denied that she is a Bangladeshi citizen, according to the Financial Times, she has

never hadan ID card or voter ID, andhasn't had

a passport since she was a child. Judge Rabiul Alam had her sentenced to two years in jail and a 100,000 Bangladeshi Taka fine ($821; £620). If she does not pay, six months will be added to the sentence. Prosecutors had

peddled incorrect and vexatious allegations that have been briefed to the media but not officially submitted to me by investigators,the MP said when the trial began.I have been upfront that I have done nothing wrong and will respond to any credible evidence presented to me," a woman's rep told me. Both baseless and damaging, with continuing to smear my name to gain political points.

According to a Labour spokesperson, the party does not accept the decision.

As has been reported, highly respected senior legal experts have stated that Tulip Siddiq has not had access to a fair court process in this case and has never been aware of the charges against her,

the spokesperson said.

This is amid repeated demands made to the Bangladeshi authorities by her legal team.

Anyone facing a lawsuit should always have the right to request court assistance when charges are made against them. Ms Sidddiq is not subject to probe or party disciplinary hearings, according to her, and she maintains her Labour Party membership and the Labour whip in the House of Commons. Last week, a group of senior lawyers in the United Kingdom raised concerns with Bangladesh's representative in the UK about how the trial was conducted. Ex-Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, former Attorney General Dominic Grieve, and Lady Cherie Blair, a human rights advocate and wife of former Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair, were among the signatories to that . Siddiq had not been able to obtain proper legal representation during the trial, according to a letter sent by the Guardian,

such a process is fraudulent and a corrupt and unfair method of seeking a lawsuit.

The decision comes two weeks after Hasina was sentenced to death in a separate trial for her part in the uprising against the demonstrations that eventually forced her from office in July 2024. She was found guilty of crimes against humanity in the deaths of an estimated 1,400 people at the hands of the police. In Hasina's absence, the trial was held in her absence, because she has been in exile in India since being banned. She denied the charges. Siddiq, the former prime minister's sister, faces a number of outstanding charges in Bangladesh, including two pending trials in connection with the allegations at the center of Monday's verdict. She is also being prosecuted for the reportedly transfer of a flat in a wealthy Dhaka suburb to her sister. Siddiq and her family have also been investigated in connection with embezzlement charges involving a £3 million dollar figure. In 2013, a 9bn contract was signed in connection with a Russian-funded nuclear power plant agreement. Siddiq has denied wrongdoing in connection with the allegations, which stemmed from Bobby Hajjaj, a political critic of Hasina. Authorities in Bangladesh have stated that during Hasina's reign, they believe that around $234 billion (£174 billion) was appropriated through corruption. Responding to the new verdict, the Awami League, the political party led by Hasina, described the allegations against the former prime minister and her family members as completely predictable and strongly denied them.

The procedure fails to pass any valid measure of judicial fairness,

the party said,

a point that has been argued vehemently by both local and international legal experts. Hasina has also accused Bangladesh's judiciary of being run by an

unelected government headed by the Awami League's political rivals,

namely the interim government headed up by Dr. Muhammed Yunus. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's independent ethics advisor Sir Laurie Magnus said he had not find

evidence of improprieties

prior to Siddiq's departure from the British government. However, he said it was

regrettableSiddiq was not more aware of thepotential reputational risks

of her ties to Hasina. Siddiq continued to insist she was not guilty of any wrongdoing, she resigned from her junior ministerial position in order not to be a

distraction" for the government. There is no extradition agreement between the UK and Bangladesh in force. It has been designated as a 2B country, implying that concrete facts must be submitted to lawyers and judges in order to authorize any extradition. Despite authorities' issuing an arrest warrant, Siddiq was not compelled to return to Dhaka for the trial.

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