A court in Bangladesh has sentenced British lawmaker Tulip Siddiq to two years in prison in absentia in connection with a corruption case linked to the незаконное (unlawful) allocation of government land in the capital, Dhaka. The ruling also affected two other high-profile figures — former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her sister, Rehana — in the same case.
In addition to the prison terms, the court imposed a fine of 100,000 taka (about $820) on each of the three defendants. Failure to pay the fine, the court warned, would result in an extra six months of imprisonment.
Prosecutors told the court that the dispute centred on a plot of land measuring approximately 13,610 square feet (1,264 square metres), which had originally been earmarked for a public housing project designed to ease congestion and population pressure in Dhaka. Instead, they alleged, the land was wrongly secured through political influence and collusion with senior officials during Sheikh Hasina’s time in office.
According to investigators, Siddiq, Hasina and Rehana allegedly abused their positions and connections to acquire the property. Fourteen other individuals charged in connection with the case were each sentenced to five years in prison.
Siddiq, who stepped down in January from her role as the UK’s minister responsible for financial services and anti-corruption matters, has repeatedly denied the allegations, describing them as a politically motivated attempt to discredit her. It is also worth noting that Britain does not have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh, making any immediate transfer to face the sentence unlikely.
Meanwhile, the political situation surrounding Sheikh Hasina continues to deepen the case’s international impact. After fleeing to neighbouring India in August 2024 during widespread unrest, she was sentenced to death last month over her government’s response to anti-government protests. In a separate development last week, she was also handed a combined 21-year prison sentence in unrelated corruption cases.
Representatives for Hasina did not immediately respond to requests for comment, while international human rights organisations continue to monitor the legal and political developments surrounding the former leadership of Bangladesh.
Source:Africa Publicity
