Bangladeshi anticorruption officials have testified against former British Minister Tulip Siddiq in a Dhaka court, accusing her of using her familial ties to deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to obtain state-owned land plots in the South Asian country. Siddiq, Hasina’s niece, resigned from her post as anticorruption minister in the UK government in January after reports linked her to graft cases in Bangladesh.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) officials read out testimonies in three separate cases related to an alleged land grab of plots in Dhaka’s capital. Siddiq, along with her mother, Sheikh Rehana, brother, Radwan Mujib, and sister, Azmina, were indicted earlier and asked to appear in court. However, the prosecution claims they absconded and will be tried in absentia.
Siddiq has called the process a “persecution and a farce,” stating that the allegations are “fabricated” and driven by a “clear political agenda.” In a statement, she said, “The so-called trial now under way in Dhaka is nothing more than a farce, built on fabricated accusations and driven by a clear political vendetta.”
ACC lawyer Khan Mohammad Mainul countered that Siddiq was “lying,” asserting that the agency has obtained necessary documents, including her correspondence, and has strong evidence against her. “We have obtained all the necessary documents, including her correspondence in this matter,” he told newsmen. “We have strong evidence against her.”
The cases are in addition to three corruption cases opened on Monday, in which Hasina, 77, is named. Hasina fled Bangladesh by helicopter on August 5, 2024, after weeks of student-led protests against her rule and has defied orders to return from India to attend her separate trial on charges amounting to crimes against humanity.
Siddiq represents the north London district of Hampstead and Highgate in Parliament and previously served as economic secretary to the Treasury, responsible for tackling financial corruption. A separate anticorruption investigation alleges Siddiq’s family was involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh, in which large sums of money were said to have been embezzled.