Tulip Siddiq. Photo: Victoria Jones, PA Images / Alamy / Profimedia
A court in Bangladesh has sentenced British MP Tulip Siddiq, a former minister, to two years in prison in a corruption case involving the illegal allocation of land, according to local media and Reuters.
The verdict was delivered in absentia as Siddiq, her aunt Sheikh Hasina (former Bangladeshi head of government) as well as Hasina's sister Sheikh Rehana – all co-accused in the case – were not present in the courtroom.
Hasina was sentenced to five years in prison and Rehana to seven, according to local media.
Hasina, who fled to neighboring India in August 2024 amid an uprising against her government, was sentenced to death last month for her government's violent crackdown on protesters.
Last week, she was also sentenced to a total of 21 years in prison in other corruption cases.
Prosecutors alleged that the land was illegally allocated through political influence and complicity with senior officials, accusing the three major defendants of abusing their authority to obtain the roughly 13,610 square meter land during Hasina's tenure as prime minister.
Most of the 17 accused were absent at the sentencing.
Siddiq, who resigned in January as Britain's minister responsible for financial services and anti-corruption efforts following an investigation into his financial ties to Hasina, previously dismissed the allegations as “politically motivated smears”.
The UK does not currently have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh.
