STORY
A court in Dhaka has sentenced the British-Bangladeshi MP Tulip Siddiq to two years in prison after finding her guilty of corruption in connection with a government land allocation scheme. The verdict, handed down in absentia, alleges that she leveraged her influence over her aunt, the former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to facilitate the unlawful transfer of a plot of land to her mother and siblings. Siddiq, who represents Hampstead and Highgate in the UK Parliament and resigned from her ministerial role earlier this year amid scrutiny over her family connections, announced her intention to challenge the ruling and she firmly denied the allegations.Under the terms of the ruling, Siddiq was also fined 100,000 taka (roughly £620). Failure to pay would result in an additional six-month prison term. Her mother, Sheikh Rehana, received a seven-year sentence and her aunt a five-year term for their roles in the same case, which involves the disputed allocation of a government plot in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone. Fourteen other individuals were also convicted, mostly receiving longer sentences.
In response, Siddiq condemned the trial as a “flawed and farcical” proceeding and described the verdict as politically motivated, arguing that she was denied access to proper defence and that the trial lacked transparency. The UK’s governing party and several international legal commentators echoed concerns about the fairness of the process. Because the UK and Bangladesh have no extradition treaty, it remains unlikely Siddiq will serve the sentence unless she chooses to return.