Tulip Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, has been sentenced to two years in jail by a court in Bangladesh, over allegations of corruption linked to her aunt, the country’s ousted former prime minister.
Siddiq denies all the allegations and says she has not been informed of the charges against her or given access to legal representation. The prosecution is seeking a maximum life sentence.
The verdict came on Monday, after Sheikh Hasina, Siddiq’s aunt, was last month given a death sentence over charges of crimes against humanity relating to last year’s crackdown on student-led protests.
The charges in Bangladesh are distinct from the row about Siddiq’s financial links to supporters of Hasina in the UK, which led to her resigning last January as anti-corruption minister.
This is how the situation unfolded:
What is Siddiq accused of doing in Bangladesh?
Siddiq and 20 other individuals, including her aunt, her mother, her brother and her sister, have been on trial in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, since the start of August.
Hasina was ousted as Bangladesh’s prime minister last year after 15 years in power, considered by many in Bangladesh as a reign of terror. Siddiq is accused of influencing Hasina to secure a plot of land in a suburb of Dhaka for her family members.
The anti-corruption commission prosecuting the case has claimed a summons was sent to an address listed on Siddiq’s Bangladesh passport, national identity card and in the voter roll.
How has Siddiq responded to the allegations?
Siddiq has said the prosecution is “completely absurd” and a politically motivated attack on her due to her relationship with her aunt. Siddiq has said she has never had a Bangladesh passport or ID card and that identity documents published by authorities in Dhaka were forgeries.
A group of high-profile lawyers including Robert Buckland KC, who was UK justice secretary under Boris Johnson, and the former Tory attorney general Dominic Grieve, suggest Siddiq has not enjoyed basic rights during her trial, including knowledge of the charges against her or access to legal representation.
The group of lawyers, which also includes Cherie Blair KC, Philippe Sands KC and Geoffrey Robertson KC, also claim that a lawyer she instructed to represent her was put under house arrest and faced threats to his daughter.
After the verdict, Siddiq said: “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.”
What did Sheikh Hasina do and what happened in her trial?
Hasina ruled for 15 years in Bangladesh in a regime widely seen as authoritarian. Her years in power were characterised by allegations of corruption, torture and enforced disappearances, which were documented by human rights organisations and the UN. She fled the country along with Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, in a military helicopter in August last year and has been living in exile – and under protection – in neighbouring India.
A three-judge bench of Bangladesh’s international crimes tribunal convicted Hasina of crimes including incitement, orders to kill and inaction to prevent atrocities as she oversaw a crackdown on anti-government protesters last year.
Reading the verdict to the court, Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder said the “accused prime minister committed crimes against humanity by her order to use drones, helicopters and lethal weapons” against civilians.
What was Siddiq’s relationship with her aunt?
Siddiq, who was born in London, has Bangladeshi citizenship due to both parents being born there. She said she also had a Bangladesh passport as a child but that it expired when she was about 18 years old and it was not renewed.
She was seen as close to her aunt while Hasina was in power, and was present at the signing of a 2013 nuclear deal between her aunt and Vladimir Putin in Moscow. She has said she was there only socially and as a tourist. While she has insisted that she has no relationship with Bangladeshi politics, others claim she has sought to minimise the benefits she has gained from her relationship to her aunt’s Awami League party.
Why did Siddiq resign from her role as a minister?
Siddiq resigned as a UK Treasury minister last January over a row about financial ties to her aunt. An investigation by Laurie Magnus, the adviser on ministerial standards, was launched into her use of properties given to herself and family by supporters of the Hasina regime.
She was not deemed by Magnus to have broken any rules over her use of the homes and he found no evidence to suggest any of Siddiq’s assets were derived from anything other than legitimate means. However he added that it was “regrettable that she was not more alert to the potential reputational risks” that arose from her familial ties and her government role.
What will happen to her in the UK if she is convicted in Bangladesh?
Siddiq would not be automatically extradited to Bangladesh as there is no treaty but the authorities are still likely to seek her extradition by request to the home secretary. A conviction carrying a lengthy jail sentence would also mean she would not be able to travel to the country of her parents’ birth and could also affect travel to allies of Bangladesh. A conviction could be politically difficult for the diplomatic relationship between the UK and Bangladesh.
