UK Labour MP Tulip Siddiq sentenced in absentia by Bangladeshi court

Labour MP and former UK Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced to two years in prison in Bangladesh after a Dhaka court found her guilty of using political influence to secure land for her family.

Siddiq, who was tried in absentia alongside 16 others, has strongly denied the allegations and is not expected to serve the sentence.

According to court documents, prosecutors accused Siddiq of exploiting her relationship with her aunt, former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, to obtain a plot of land on the outskirts of Dhaka for her mother, Rehana Siddiq, and her siblings, Azmina and Radwan Siddiq.

The charge forms part of a series of sweeping legal actions launched since Sheikh Hasina’s government was ousted earlier this year.

Siddiq, the sitting MP for Hampstead and Highgate, has rejected the accusations as politically motivated. She remains in London and continues to face several other outstanding charges filed by Bangladeshi authorities.

Her legal troubles intensified after she resigned from her Treasury post in January following controversy over her familial ties to Hasina.

The trial, which began in August, is one of numerous cases brought against the former prime minister, her associates, and relatives amid a broad crackdown by the new administration in Dhaka. Siddiq maintains that the claims she “forced and influenced” Hasina to secure the land are entirely unfounded.

UK officials have not yet commented on the verdict, but the case is likely to further strain relations between Dhaka and members of the Bangladeshi diaspora, many of whom have labelled the prosecutions retributive.