Labour MP and former UK minister Tulip Siddiq has been given a two-year prison sentence in Bangladesh, where she was tried without being present. She faced the court along with 16 others on corruption-related accusations.
A Look at Tulip Siddiq’s Political Journey
Tulip Rizwana Siddiq FRSA (born 16 September 1982) is a British-Bangladeshi politician who has represented Hampstead and Highgate and previously Hampstead and Kilburn in the UK Parliament since 2015. She served as the Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister from 9 July 2024 until she stepped down on 14 January 2025 after facing allegations of misconduct, including claims linked to the fall of Bangladesh’s former government. Before entering Parliament, Siddiq was a Camden councillor for Regent’s Park between 2010 and 2014. She is also the niece of Sheikh Hasina, the former Bangladeshi prime minister who was removed from power. On 13 April 2025, Bangladeshi authorities issued an arrest warrant for Siddiq as part of ongoing corruption investigations connected to Hasina’s period in office.
The Reason Behind Tulip Siddiq’s Two-Year Prison Sentence
The court ruled that Siddiq used her influence over her aunt Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s former prime minister who was recently removed from power to help her family obtain a piece of land on the outskirts of Dhaka. Siddiq has firmly rejected this charge.
Although she remains a sitting MP for Hampstead and Highgate and lives in London, she is not expected to serve any prison term. Siddiq continues to face multiple pending cases in Bangladesh.
After Hasina’s government was overthrown, Bangladeshi prosecutors opened a series of major legal cases targeting the former leader, people close to her, and her relatives.
Long-Running Trial on Tulip Siddiq in Dhaka
Siddiq’s trial began in Dhaka in August, months after she stepped down from her role as a Treasury minister in the UK due to controversy about her family connection to Hasina.
According to court papers, Siddiq supposedly “forced and influenced her aunt and the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina using her special power to secure [a plot of land] for her mother Rehana Siddiq, sister Azmina Siddiq and brother Radwan Siddiq”.
A prosecutor with the Anti-Corruption Commission said Siddiq was treated as a Bangladeshi citizen because they had her passport, ID, and tax number. However, Siddiq’s legal team told the Financial Times she “never had” a Bangladeshi ID card or voter identity and “has not held a passport since she was a child”.
Judge Rabiul Alam ordered a two-year jail term and a fine of 100,000 Bangladeshi Taka (about $821 or £620). If she does not pay, another six months may be added.
Tulip Siddiq Says Allegations Are Fabricated
When her trial first began, Siddiq said prosecutors had “peddled false and vexatious allegations that have been briefed to the media but never formally put to me by investigators”.
A statement from her side added: “I have been clear from the outset that I have done nothing wrong and will respond to any credible evidence that is presented to me. Continuing to smear my name to score political points is both baseless and damaging.”
Since the verdict, Siddiq has not issued any public comment.
Senior UK Lawyers Raise Concerns
Last week, a group of notable British legal figures wrote to Bangladesh’s UK representative about serious flaws in the trial process. The signatories included former justice secretary Robert Buckland, former attorney general Dominic Grieve, and human rights lawyer Lady Cherie Blair.
Their letter, first revealed by the Guardian, said Siddiq did not receive proper legal support during proceedings. They wrote, “Such a process is artificial and a contrived and unfair way of pursuing a prosecution.”
Wider Crackdown on Hasina and Her Associates
The ruling against Siddiq comes just two weeks after Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death in another case related to a violent crackdown that killed around 1,400 people before her removal from office in July 2024. She has been living in exile in India and denies the accusations.
Siddiq, who is Hasina’s niece, is also facing other active cases, including two that relate directly to the allegations addressed in Monday’s verdict. Investigators are also looking into a property transfer involving a valuable flat in Dhaka allegedly moved to her sister’s name.
In a parallel case last week, Hasina received a 21-year sentence again in her absence linked to a land deal in Purbachal.
Furthermore, Siddiq and members of her family have been examined for possible involvement in alleged irregularities tied to a £3.9 billion nuclear power project funded by Russia. These suspicions trace back to claims made by Bobby Hajjaj, a political rival of Hasina.
Bangladeshi officials have estimated that $234 billion may have been lost through corruption during Hasina’s years in power.
Her Resignation and the Global Attention It Drew
Before Siddiq resigned from her ministerial position in the UK, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, reviewed the issue. He said he found no evidence of improprieties, though he felt it was regrettable that Siddiq had not recognised the potential reputational risks of her family connections.
Siddiq said she stepped down to avoid being a distraction despite repeatedly stressing that she had done nothing wrong.
The UK does not have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh, which means Bangladesh must present strong evidence before the UK can even consider extradition. Siddiq was never forced to travel to Dhaka, although a Bangladeshi arrest warrant was issued.
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