Tulip Siddiq given jail sentence as Labour criticises process

Tulip Siddiq, a former minister and Labour MP, has been handed a four-year prison sentence on corruption charges by a Bangladeshi court. The Labour Party has condemned the legal proceedings as unjust. Alongside Siddiq, her aunt, former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and two other family members also received various prison sentences tied to separate corruption cases. The individuals involved were tried in their absence and have rejected all allegations.

A Labour Party spokesperson responded to the sentencing by emphasizing Siddiq’s lack of access to a fair judicial process, stating, “Tulip Siddiq has not had access to a fair legal process in this case and has never been informed of the details of the charges against her.” Despite numerous appeals through her legal representatives, no substantive information about the accusations was provided by the Bangladeshi authorities. The spokesperson added, “Anyone facing any charge should always be afforded the right to make legal representations when allegations are made against them,” and concluded that without this right, the party cannot accept the verdict.

This recent four-year term follows a prior two-year sentence imposed on Siddiq late last year, when she was found guilty of persuading her aunt to use “her special power” to obtain a piece of land on the outskirts of Dhaka. Siddiq, who represents Hampstead and Highgate as an MP, has described the judicial process as “flawed and farcical from the beginning to the end.” She expressed confusion and frustration about the case, stating, “I’m absolutely baffled by the whole thing – I’ve still had no contact whatsoever from the Bangladeshi authorities despite them spreading malicious allegations about me for a year-and-a-half now.”

Siddiq resigned as a UK Treasury minister in January 2025 after scrutiny over her connections to her aunt, including the use of London properties tied to Hasina’s associates. The prime minister’s ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, commented that while no evidence of wrongdoing had been found, it was “regrettable” that Siddiq had not been more conscious of potential reputational issues associated with these links. In her resignation letter, Siddiq maintained she had acted transparently but stepped down to prevent becoming “a distraction” for the government. Meanwhile, Hasina, who led Bangladesh for 15 years before fleeing to India amid mass uprisings in August 2024, has also faced legal challenges, including a death sentence last year for crimes against humanity related to a crackdown on student protests. Hasina has condemned her trial as “biased and politically motivated.”

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