A court in Bangladesh has sentenced British Labour MP Tulip Siddiq to two years in prison after finding her guilty of complicity in corrupt land deals involving her aunt, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. The verdict, delivered in absentia on Monday, ruled that Siddiq misused her influence as a British politician to pressure Hasina into gifting valuable plots of land to her mother, brother and sister.
Siddiq, the MP for Hampstead and Highgate, denied the allegations and condemned the trial as 'flawed and farcical from the beginning to the end'. She called the outcome a 'kangaroo court' verdict that should be treated with contempt. Her mother, Sheikh Rehana, was sentenced to seven years in prison as the prime participant in the case.
The Labour party said it did not recognise the judgment, arguing Siddiq was denied a fair legal process. A group of leading British lawyers, including a former Conservative justice secretary, had earlier described the trial as 'artificial, contrived and unfair'. The UK has no extradition treaty with Bangladesh, making it unlikely Siddiq will serve the sentence.
Siddiq, a former Treasury minister, claimed the case was a politically motivated attack linked to her aunt Hasina, who was ousted in a popular uprising in August 2024. Hasina has since been convicted of crimes against humanity and corruption, receiving a 21-year sentence last week. The interim government led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has pursued rapid trials against the former regime.
