Dhaka/London, December 1, 2025 – A Bangladeshi court has sentenced British Labour Member of Parliament Tulip Siddiq to two years in prison after finding her guilty of corruption involving the illegal allocation of government land. The 43-year-old MP for Hampstead and Highgate, who is British-Bangladeshi, was tried and convicted in her absence alongside 16 others, including her aunt, the ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, and her mother, Sheikh Rehana.
The case centres on the misuse of authority to secure a prime residential plot in Purbachal New Town, a massive housing project on the eastern outskirts of Dhaka originally intended for diplomats and senior officials. Prosecutors alleged that Siddiq used her close family ties to “force and influence” Hasina into allocating a 7,200-square-foot plot in the diplomatic zone to her mother, sister, and brother despite the family not meeting eligibility criteria.
Presiding over the trial at Dhaka’s Special Judge’s Court-4, Judge Md Rabiul Alam handed Siddiq a two-year sentence and a fine of 100,000 Bangladeshi Taka (approximately £620). Failure to pay the fine would add six months to the prison term. Hasina received five years, while Sheikh Rehana – described by the court as the “prime participant” – was given seven years. The remaining 14 defendants, mostly family members and former officials, were each sentenced to five years.
None of the 17 accused appeared in court. Hasina has been in exile in India since fleeing Bangladesh by helicopter on 5 August 2024 amid violent protests that ended her 15-year rule. Rehana and Siddiq’s siblings are also abroad, and Tulip Siddiq has lived in the United Kingdom since early childhood.
Siddiq has consistently rejected the charges, describing the trial as a “kangaroo court” and “fabricated accusations driven by a clear political vendetta.” She has stressed that she has never held a Bangladeshi national identity card, voter registration, or adult passport, and therefore disputes Bangladesh’s jurisdiction over her. Her legal team and supporters argue that the case relies on unverified claims and that her appointed lawyer in Dhaka was forced to withdraw after being placed under house arrest and receiving threats against his daughter.
The verdict is the latest in a sweeping series of prosecutions against Hasina and her inner circle since the Awami League government was toppled in August 2024. Bangladesh’s interim administration, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has initiated more than 100 corruption and abuse-of-power cases, alleging that up to $234 billion was looted from state coffers during Hasina’s tenure.
In the United Kingdom, the conviction has intensified political pressure on Siddiq. She resigned as Economic Secretary to the Treasury in January 2025 after revelations that she was under investigation in Bangladesh in connection with a separate £4 billion bribery allegation linked to a Russian-built nuclear power plant. She has always denied any wrongdoing in that matter as well.
Further scrutiny arose when it emerged that Siddiq had previously told journalists her London flat had been purchased by her parents, when in fact it had been gifted by a political ally of her aunt. An independent inquiry by the Prime Minister’s adviser on ministerial standards, Sir Laurie Magnus, cleared her of breaching the Ministerial Code but noted she should have been more aware of “reputational risks” arising from her family’s close association with the Hasina regime.
A group of prominent British lawyers and former ministers, including Cherie Blair KC, wrote to Bangladesh’s High Commissioner in London last month condemning the trial as “contrived and unfair” and falling “far short of internationally recognised standards of fairness.” Labour Party officials have echoed this position, stating that Siddiq has been denied due process and that the UK government cannot recognise the judgment.
Because there is no extradition treaty between the UK and Bangladesh, the sentence is effectively symbolic unless Siddiq voluntarily travels to Bangladesh. Prosecutors have indicated they may appeal for harsher penalties and are considering diplomatic channels to pursue the matter further.
Opposition politicians and some commentators have renewed calls for Siddiq to step down as an MP, arguing that a criminal conviction – even one delivered in absentia abroad – is incompatible with holding public office. Others, including many in her own party, insist the case is politically motivated and that she should remain in Parliament.
Siddiq has vowed to continue representing her constituents in Hampstead and Highgate, declaring that her focus “has always been the people I serve” and refusing to allow “the dirty politics of Bangladesh” to derail her work.
The episode has cast a spotlight on the challenges facing diaspora politicians with family ties to authoritarian or controversial regimes, and it risks straining relations between London and Dhaka at a time when Bangladesh is seeking international support for its post-Hasina transition.
