A Bangladesh court has sentenced British MP and former minister Tulip Siddiqui to two years in jail in a corruption case related to the alleged illegal allocation of a plot of land.
Siddiq, who serves as MP for Hampstead and Highgate in London, had denied the charges and the trial was held in his absence.
The court also sentenced his aunt, ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to five years in prison. Last month, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by a Dhaka court for crimes against humanity in a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.
On Monday, Dhaka Special Magistrate’s Court judge Rabiul Alam said Hasina abused her power as prime minister, while Siddiq was guilty of corruptly influencing his aunt to help his mother get a piece of land in a government project. Siddiq’s mother Sheikh Rehana was given a seven-year prison sentence and was considered a key participant in the case.
Last week a group of prominent lawyers, including a former Conservative justice secretary, told Bangladesh’s ambassador that the case against Siddiq was “contrived and unfair”.
Hasina has been in exile in India since she was ousted following a mass uprising last year. The trial and other cases against him were conducted in his absence.
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