Tulip Siddiq MP says Bangladesh jail sentence is ‘deeply unfair’

Labor Party MP and former minister Tulip Siddiqui has described her two-year prison sentence as “grossly unfair” after a court convicted her in absentia on corruption charges in Bangladesh.

She was found guilty of influencing her aunt, the ousted Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, to secure a plot of land for her family on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, a claim she strongly denies.

Siddiq, who lives in London and has denied the charges, is unlikely to receive a jail sentence.

The Labor MP said the process had been “flawed and ridiculous from start to finish”.

“I am absolutely amazed by the whole thing – the Bangladeshi authorities have still not contacted me despite spreading malicious allegations about me for a year and a half,” he said.

“I have been sent no summons, no charge sheet, I have no correspondence with them – it is not difficult to find me, I am an MP.”

He said he has appointed lawyers in the UK and Bangladesh.

“I feel like I’m in some kind of Kafkaesque nightmare,” he said.

“The only reason I know I’m being convicted is because I read it in the newspapers. So it’s a trial by media, which is extremely unfair.”

Since Hasina’s regime was toppled, prosecutors in Bangladesh have launched several sweeping legal cases against the former leader, her former associates and family members.

The trial involving Siddiq – who stepped down as treasury minister in January due to a controversy over his relationship with his aunt – has been running in Dhaka since August.

Siddiq is facing many outstanding charges.

Court documents include claims that Siddiq “coerced and influenced his aunt and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by using her special power to secure (a plot of land) for his mother Rehana Siddiq, sister Azmina Siddiq and brother Radwan Siddiq”.

A prosecutor from Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had earlier said that Siddiq was prosecuted as a Bangladeshi citizen because authorities had obtained his 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 ID card or voter ID card”, and “has not held a passport since she was a child”.

Judge Rabiul Alam sentenced him to two years in prison and a 100,000 Bangladeshi taka ($821; £620) fine. If she fails to pay, six months will be added to the sentence.

When the trial began, the MP said that prosecutors had made “false and disturbing allegations, which have been briefed to the media, but which investigators have never formally presented to me”.

A statement from her continued: “I have been clear from the beginning that I have done nothing wrong and I will respond to whatever credible evidence is presented to me. The continued maligning of my name to score political points is baseless and harmful.”

A Labor spokesman said the party could not recognize the decision.

“As noted, highly respected senior legal professionals have highlighted that Tulip Siddiqui has not had access to a fair legal process in this case and has never been informed of the details of the allegations against her,” the spokesperson said.

“This is despite repeated requests to the Bangladeshi authorities through his legal team.

“Any person facing any charge should always be afforded the right to legal representation when the charges are brought against them.”

It is understood that Siddiq is not subject to investigation or party disciplinary proceedings and retains his Labor Party membership and Labor whip in the House of Commons.

Last week, a group of senior lawyers raised concerns with Bangladesh’s representative to the UK over how the trial was conducted.

Signatories to that statement included 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, he said Sidiq had not been able to secure proper legal representation during the trial, adding: “Such a process is artificial and a fanciful and unfair way of conducting a prosecution.”

The verdict comes two weeks after Hasina was sentenced to death in a separate trial over her role in a brutal crackdown on protests that ultimately ousted her from office in July 2024.

He was found guilty of crimes against humanity over the deaths of an estimated 1,400 people at the hands of police.

That trial was held in Hasina’s absence, as she is in exile in India after being ousted. He denied the allegations.

Siddiq, whose mother is the sister of a former prime minister, faces several outstanding charges in Bangladesh, including two ongoing trials in relation to the allegations at the center of Monday’s decision.

He is also being investigated for allegedly transferring a flat located in an attractive area of ​​Dhaka to his sister.

Siddiq and his family have also been investigated in connection with allegations of embezzlement in a £3.9 billion deal linked to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant deal in 2013.

Siddiq has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in relation to the allegations, which stemmed from claims made by Hasina’s political rival Bobby Hajjaj.

Bangladeshi officials have said that they estimate that approximately $234 billion (£174 billion) was appropriated through corruption during Hasina’s reign.

Reacting to the latest verdict, Awami League, the political party that Hasina leads, described it as “completely predictable” and “strongly refuted” the allegations against the former prime minister and her family members.

“This process fails to pass any reasonable test of judicial impartiality – an issue that has been strongly raised by both local and international legal experts,” the party said.

Hasina also accused Bangladesh’s judiciary of being controlled by “an unelected government run by political opponents of the Awami League”, i.e. the interim government led by Dr Muhammad Yunus.

Before Siddiq resigned from the British government, Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent ethics adviser to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, said he had found no “evidence of improprieties” following the investigation.

However, he said it was “regrettable” that Siddiq was not more alert to the “potential reputational risks” of his relationship with Hasina.

While Siddiq continued to insist that he was not guilty of any wrongdoing, he left his junior ministerial role in order not to become “awful” to the government.

The UK has no extradition treaty with Bangladesh. It is classified as a 2B country, meaning lawyers and judges need to present clear evidence to authorize any extradition.

Despite authorities issuing an arrest warrant, Siddiq was not forced to return to Dhaka for trial.