Post-colonialism: Bangladesh court sentences former British minister and MP

Bangladesh court sentences UK MP Tulip Siddiq to two years in prison in absentia, ‘The Guardian’ is worried.

Tulip Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, has been sentenced to two years in jail by a court in Bangladesh, over allegations of corruption linked to her aunt, the country’s ousted former prime minister.

The verdict came on Monday, after Sheikh Hasina, Siddiq’s aunt, was last month given a death sentence over charges of crimes against humanity relating to last year’s crackdown on student-led protests.

The charges in Bangladesh are distinct from the row about Siddiq’s financial links to supporters of Hasina in the UK, which led to her resigning last January as anti-corruption minister.

This is how the situation unfolded:

What is Siddiq accused of doing in Bangladesh? – Siddiq and 20 other individuals, including her aunt, her mother, her brother and her sister, have been on trial in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, since the start of August. Hasina was ousted as Bangladesh’s prime minister last year after 15 years in power, considered by many in Bangladesh as a reign of terror. Siddiq is accused of influencing Hasina to secure a plot of land in a suburb of Dhaka for her family members.

What did Sheikh Hasina do and what happened in her trial? – Hasina ruled for 15 years in Bangladesh in a regime widely seen as authoritarian. She fled the country along with Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, in a military helicopter in August last year and has been living in exile – and under protection – in neighbouring India.

What was Siddiq’s relationship with her aunt? – Siddiq, who was born in London, has Bangladeshi citizenship due to both parents being born there. She said she also had a Bangladesh passport as a child but that it expired when she was about 18 years old and it was not renewed. While she has insisted that she has no relationship with Bangladeshi politics, others claim she has sought to minimise the benefits she has gained from her relationship to her aunt’s Awami League party.

Why did Siddiq resign from her role as a minister? – Siddiq resigned as a UK Treasury minister last January over a row about financial ties to her aunt.

What will happen to her in the UK if she is convicted in Bangladesh? – Siddiq would not be automatically extradited to Bangladesh as there is no treaty but the authorities are still likely to seek her extradition by request to the home secretary. A conviction carrying a lengthy jail sentence would also mean she would not be able to travel to the country of her parents’ birth and could also affect travel to allies of Bangladesh. A conviction could be politically difficult for the diplomatic relationship between the UK and Bangladesh.

Sheikh Hasina ruled Bangladesh for 15 years

The trial had been carried out in absentia and on Monday neither Hasina, Siddiq, Rehana nor more than a dozen other members of her family accused in the case were in the court as the verdict was read out.

The UK does not have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh and it is unlikely Siddiq will serve the sentence, notes ‘The Guardian’.

During the trial, the prosecutor, Khan Mohammed Mainul Hasan, alleged that Siddiq had called and messaged top aides in Hasina’s office and visited Dhaka personally to secure plots of land for members of her family in a suburb of the capital.

After Hasina was toppled from power in a popular uprising in August 2024, an interim government was appointed, led by the Nobel prize laureate Muhammad Yunus.

A core mandate of the interim government was to bring Hasina and senior figures in her administration to justice for alleged corruption and human rights abuses that took place during her 15 years in power. There has been substantial public and political pressure for trials to proceed quickly.

Last month, Bangladesh’s international crimes tribunal found Hasina guilty of crimes against humanity, for her role in the massacre of more than 1,000 people who took part in the anti-government protests last year that eventually led to her downfall. In a subsequent corruption trial last week, Hasina was given a further 21-year prison sentence on corruption charges.

Hasina has remained in exile in India since her fall from power last August and the country has yet to respond to extradition requests by Bangladesh for her to return to serve her sentence.

2024. Color revolution in Bangladesh. PM flees country and resigns

Toby Cadman, a British barrister who has been advising the Bangladeshi authorities, said: “It is important to highlight that [Siddiq] was tried and convicted in accordance with Bangladesh law. The law was applied to her as it is to all persons who come before the Bangladesh courts without exception.

“Allegations that her legal counsel was prevented from participating and was subjected to house arrest remain disputed and are not considered to be entirely accurate, particularly considering under Bangladesh law she was treated as a fugitive and not entitled to legal representation.

“It would seem that it was her conscious decision to boycott the proceedings. Assertions that she was unaware of the charges against her are strongly contested, as she was afforded the opportunity to surrender to the court and address the allegations, with the right to appoint legal representation of her own choosing had she done so.”

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