A court in Bangladesh on Monday sentenced British parliamentarian and former UK minister Tulip Siddiq to two years in prison in absentia over corruption charges linked to the illegal allocation of government land in Dhaka, prosecutors said.
Siddiq’s aunt, former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, was sentenced to five years in jail, while Hasina’s sister Rehana received a seven-year sentence. All three were fined 100,000 taka ($820) each, with an additional six months in prison if the fines are not paid.
The court ruled that the three used their political influence to unlawfully obtain a 13,610-square-foot (1,264-square-metre) plot of land that had been designated for a government housing project intended to ease population pressure in the capital.
Political Fallout and Denials
Siddiq, who resigned in January as the UK’s minister for financial services and anti-corruption, has dismissed the charges as a “politically motivated smear.” She has not returned to Bangladesh and, as Britain has no extradition treaty with the country, she is not expected to serve her sentence.
Hasina’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Prosecutors said the trio “abused their authority and colluded with senior officials” to secure the land allocation during Hasina’s tenure as prime minister.
Fourteen other defendants in the same case were each sentenced to five years in prison.
Mounting Legal Cases Against Hasina
The verdict is the latest in a growing list of criminal cases against Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India in August 2024 amid a mass uprising against her government. Last month, a separate Bangladeshi court sentenced her to death over her administration’s deadly crackdown on demonstrators during anti-government protests.
Just last week, she was also handed a combined 21-year prison term in other corruption cases.
The latest ruling underscores the deepening political turmoil in Bangladesh following Hasina’s ousting after more than a decade in power. Her conviction, along with that of her relatives, adds to a widening web of legal challenges surrounding the country’s former ruling family.
(with inputs from Reuters)
