Labour MP Tulip Siddiq hits out at ‘farce’ anti-corruption trial in Bangladesh
Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has called her anti-corruption trial a “farce” which is “driven by a clear political agenda” as proceedings began on Wednesday in Bangladesh.
In a statement seen by Sky News, Ms Siddiq has said the case was “built on fabricated accusations”.
The Bangladesh authorities allege the Labour MP “exerted pressure and influence” on her aunt, the country’s ousted former prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to get planning officials to appoint them 7,200sq ft of land.
When Ms Hasina was removed as prime minister last year and replaced by the current government, hundreds of protesters were killed during the uprising.
Ms Siddiq resigned from her Treasury job in January after facing calls to step down over links to her aunt, who is being investigated by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over charges including crimes against humanity.
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Ms Siddiq previously denied all the allegations against her through lawyers, saying the prosecution is politically motivated.
Bangladesh’s ACC claims the Labour MP received the land in a diplomatic zone through “abuse of power and influence”.
The trial in Dhaka began in the early hours of UK time, with Ms Siddiq on trial alongside her mother and siblings. The family are being tried in absentia as they have not returned to Bangladesh for the proceedings.
The court opened with ACC prosecutors laying out the case against Ms Siddiq.
Bangladeshi prosecutors at court for the Tulip Siddiq case. Pic: AP
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In her statement, Ms Siddiq 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.
“Over the past year, the allegations against me have repeatedly shifted, yet I have never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities once. I have never received a court summons, no official communication, and no evidence.
“If this were a genuine legal process, the authorities would have engaged with me or my legal team, responded to our formal correspondence, and presented the evidence they claim to hold.
“Instead, they have peddled false and vexatious allegations that have been briefed to the media but never formally put to me by investigators.
“Even my offer to meet Bangladesh’s chief adviser Muhammad Yunus during his recent visit to London was refused. Such conduct is wholly incompatible with the principles of a fair trial that we uphold in the UK.
“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.”
Responding to Ms Siddiq’s statement, Bangladeshi prosecutor Mohammad Sultan Mahmud highlighted the difference between the British and Bangladeshi legal system.
This includes Ms Siddiq only being able to receive a court summons if she returns to Bangladesh.
The Labour MP’s legal team are understood to have sought legal advice regarding the Bangladeshi prosecutor’s response.
Siddiq, left, Hasina and Vladimir Putin in 2013. Pic: AP
Sky News understands the MP’s lawyer requested to attend the trial in Bangladesh on her behalf but was denied access.
We also understand the Bangladeshi authorities did not tell Ms Siddiq of a date change for the trial, and she only found out when Sky News contacted her lawyer about it.
On the other points, Mr Mahmud denied there was any political motivation to the case.
He added that Mr Yunus likely rejected meeting Ms Siddiq due to a busy schedule and not wanting to interfere in the proceedings.
The prosecutor went on to claim he had “a lot of evidence” against Ms Siddiq and her family, and intends to bring further cases against her.
A separate anti-corruption allegation into Ms Siddiq’s family has also been launched, with allegations they were 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.
Ms Siddiq’s aunt, Ms Hasina, was ousted last year following student protests, having been in power for more than a decade. She has since fled to India.
Hundreds of protesters were killed during the uprising, and Ms Hasina now faces charges including crimes against humanity.
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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as interim leader and vowed to prosecute Ms Hasina.
Allegations have also been made about Ms Siddiq and a house she rents in north London, which is owned by a businessman reportedly linked to Ms Hasina’s Awami League Party.
Thousands more Afghan nationals may have been affected by another data breach, the government has said.
Up to 3,700 Afghans brought to the UK between January and March 2024 have potentially been impacted as names, passport details and information from the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy has been compromised again, this time by a breach on a third party supplier used by the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
This was not an attack directly on the government but a cyber security incident on a sub-contractor named Inflite – The Jet Centre – an MoD supplier that provides ground handling services for flights at London Stansted Airport.
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The flights were used to bring Afghans to the UK, travel to routine military exercises, and official engagements. It was also used to fly British troops and government officials.
Those involved were informed of it on Friday afternoon by the MoD, marking the second time information about Afghan nationals relocated to the UK has been compromised.
It is understood former Tory ministers are also affected by the hack.
Earlier this year, it emerged that almost 7,000 Afghan nationals would have to be relocated to the UK following a massive data breach by the British military that successive governments tried to keep secret with a super-injunction.
Defence Secretary John Healey offered a “sincere apology” for the first data breach in a statement to the House of Commons, saying he was “deeply concerned about the lack of transparency” around the data breach, adding: “No government wishes to withhold information from the British public, from parliamentarians or the press in this manner.”
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The previous Conservative government set up a secret scheme in 2023 to relocate Afghan nationals impacted by the data breach, but who were not eligible for an existing programme to relocate and help people who had worked for the British government in Afghanistan.
The mistake exposed personal details of close to 20,000 individuals, endangering them and their families, with as many as 100,000 people impacted in total.
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A government spokesperson said of Friday’s latest breach: “We were recently notified that a third party sub-contractor to a supplier experienced a cyber security incident involving unauthorised access to a small number of its emails that contained basic personal information.
“We take data security extremely seriously and are going above and beyond our legal duties in informing all potentially affected individuals. The incident has not posed any threat to individuals’ safety, nor compromised any government systems.”
In a statement, Inflite – The Jet Centre confirmed the “data security incident” involving “unauthorised access to a limited number of company emails”.
“We have reported the incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office and have been actively working with the relevant UK cyber authorities, including the National Crime Agency and the National Cyber Security Centre, to support our investigation and response,” it said.
“We believe the scope of the incident was limited to email accounts only, however, as a precautionary measure, we have contacted our key stakeholders whose data may have been affected during the period of January to March 2024.”
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