Former City minister Tulip Siddiq said today she refuses to be “distracted by the dirty politics of Bangladesh” after she was sentenced to two years in prison by a court in the country for corruption.
The Labour MP received the custodial sentence for corruption involving a Government land project, whilst her aunt, ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was jailed for five years.
Following the verdict, Ms Siddiq said in a statement: “This whole process has been flawed and farcical from the beginning to the end.
“The outcome of this kangaroo court is as predictable as it is unjustified. I hope this so-called ‘verdict’ will be treated with the contempt it deserves. My focus has always been my constituents in Hampstead and Highgate and I refuse to be distracted by the dirty politics of Bangladesh.”
The Associated Press reports Rabiul Alam, the judge of Dhaka’s Special Judge’s Court, said Ms Hasina misused her power as prime minister.
He also said Ms Siddiq was guilty of corruptly influencing her aunt in helping her mother get a piece of land in a government project.
Ms Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, was given seven years in prison and was reportedly considered the prime participant in the case.
The three women are out of the country and were tried in absentia.
But the Labour Party has said it does not recognise the corruption judgment against Ms Siddiq, who is MP for Hampstead and Highgate in London, because she has been denied the opportunity to a fair legal process in the case.
Meanwhile, Ms Siddiq’s lawyers have called the charges baseless and politically motivated.
In an interview with broadcasters, Ms Siddiq said she had repeatedly reached out to the Bangladeshi authorities in an attempt to clear her name but her approaches had been rebuffed.
She said: “I am not difficult to find. I am a parliamentarian. All they had to do is send some papers to the House of Commons, to Parliament, and I would have responded.
“I feel like I am in some sort of Kafka-esqe nightmare where I am carrying on doing my day job but on the other hand, I am apparently being convicted in Bangladesh.
“And the only reason I know I am being convicted is because I read it in the newspapers. So this is trial by media which is deeply unfair.”
She previously told The Guardian the charges against her were “completely absurd” and asserted she was “collateral damage” in the longstanding feud between her aunt and Bangladesh’s interim leader, Muhammad Yunus.
The UK does not have an extradition treaty in place with Bangladesh.
Earlier this year, Ms Siddiq resigned from her ministerial job in the Treasury following an investigation by the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser into her links to Ms Hasina’s regime, which was overthrown last year.
She came under scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt’s allies.
Although Sir Laurie Magnus concluded that Ms Siddiq had not breached the Ministerial Code, he advised Sir Keir Starmer to reconsider her responsibilities.
Ms Siddiq chose to resign, saying she had become “a distraction” from the Government’s agenda.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “The Labour Party and all our elected representatives take the rule of law incredibly seriously and will always fulfil our legal responsibilities.
“As has been reported, highly regarded senior legal professionals have highlighted that Tulip Siddiq has not had access to a fair legal process in this case and has never been informed of the details of the charges against her.
“This is despite repeated requests made to the Bangladeshi authorities through her legal team.
“Anyone facing any charge should always be afforded the right to make legal representations when allegations are made against them.
“Given that has not happened in this case, we cannot recognise this judgment.”
Cabinet minister Darren Jones said Ms Siddiq had made it clear that she denies “any wrongdoing whatsoever”.
He told Sky News: “She’s tried to engage, as I understand, with this process in Bangladesh, unsuccessfully.
“And so she’s concluded it’s a kind of more a political operation than a legal one.
“She was obviously not part of that trial or court process in Bangladesh and they concluded, innocence or otherwise, without her.
“So, Tulip will have to comment more on the details, but my understanding is that she refutes any accusations.”
