British MP Tulip Siddiq allegedly used her “special power” as a parliamentarian to pressure her aunt, former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, into securing state-owned land for family members, prosecutors told a court in Dhaka, according to The Times (UK).
The allegations were outlined at the start of an anti-corruption trial on Wednesday at Dhaka Special Judge Court 4, where Siddiq is accused of influencing Hasina — deposed last year and now living in exile in India — to obtain prime plots for her mother, brother, and sister. The land is said to have been allocated in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone and in the Purbachal New Town Project.
Siddiq, 42, resigned as the UK’s anti-corruption minister in January, citing “reputational risks” from her family ties to Hasina’s regime. She has dismissed the case as “persecution and a farce,” saying she is “collateral damage” in a political feud between Hasina and current Bangladeshi leader Muhammad Yunus.
According to The Times, prosecutors allege Siddiq also sought to sway senior officials in Bangladesh’s housing ministry to secure plots for her sister. They say she owns a flat in Dhaka’s Gulshan district, which should have disqualified her from receiving land under the scheme.
Hasina and her relatives are accused of misappropriating billions of pounds during her 15-year rule, and she faces separate charges for crimes against humanity. Siddiq is one of 16 people named in the current corruption case.
The court has set August 28 for the next stage of proceedings, when witnesses and evidence will be presented. Siddiq’s lawyers say she has never received a formal summons and dispute prosecutors’ claims that she holds Bangladeshi citizenship, calling the allegations “targeted and baseless.”
