Bangladeshi anti-corruption officials have given evidence in court against Labour’s former anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq, accused of using her familial connection to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to obtain state-owned land in Bangladesh.
Ms Siddiq, who is Ms Hasina’s niece, resigned from her post as an anti-corruption minister in Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer‘s government in January after reports that she lived in London properties linked to her aunt and was named in an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh.
She is being tried together with her mother, Sheikh Rehana, brother, Radwan Mujib, and sister, Azmina.
Ms Siddiq has been charged with facilitating their receipt of state land in a township project near the capital, Dhaka.
The four were indicted earlier and asked to appear in court, but the prosecution said they absconded and would be tried in absentia.
The trial at the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 formally began on Wednesday, hearing evidence from officials from the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, third right, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, third left, and Tulip Siddiq, left, attend a signing ceremony in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Bangladeshi anti-corruption officials have given evidence in court against Labour’s former anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq, accused of using family connections to obtain state-owned land in Bangladesh
Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam said that if Ms Siddiq was found guilty, Bangladesh authorities were likely to submit an Interpol Red Notice for her arrest, which would prove embarrassing for Sir Keir Starmer
The court had heard from two officials and a third was expected to testify later in the day, Muhammad Tariqul Islam, a public prosecutor, said.
Ms Siddiq’s lawyers had previously called the charges baseless and politically motivated.
The former minister has said she feels like she is ‘in a Kafkaesque nightmare‘ amid the corruption trial.
The 42-year-old has labelled the charge as ‘completely absurd’ and insists she is the victim of an orchestrated campaign against her, accusing interim leader Muhammad Yunus of ‘interfering with UK politics’.
Talking to The Guardian, she said: ‘I feel a bit like I’m trapped in this Kafkaesque nightmare where I’ve been put on trial and I genuinely haven’t found out what the allegations are and what the trial is about.’
The nation’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) accuses Ms Siddiq of obtaining a 7,200 sq ft plot of land in the Purbachal diplomatic zone of the capital, Dhaka.
Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam claimed she ‘influenced her aunt to get land properties for family members’.
He added that if she was found guilty, Bangladesh authorities were likely to submit an Interpol Red Notice for her arrest, which would prove embarrassing for Sir Keir Starmer.
The former minister has said she feels like she is ‘in a Kafkaesque nightmare’ amid the corruption trial
The 42-year-old has labelled the charge as ‘completely absurd’ and insists she is the victim of an orchestrated campaign against her
Public Prosecutor Muhammad Tariqul Islam, wearing a necktie, speaks to the media following a court hearing in the corruption case against former British Minister Tulip Siddiq at the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Separately, the anti-corruption investigation has also alleged that Ms Siddiq’s family was 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.
The Labour MP represents the north London district of Hampstead and Highgate and served as economic secretary to the Treasury – the minister responsible for tackling financial corruption.
Ms Hasina was ousted after a 15-year rule in a student-led mass uprising in August last year. She fled to India and has been in exile ever since.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as interim leader and vowed to try the former prime minister.
Hundreds of protesters were killed during the uprising and Ms Hasina now faces charges, including crimes against humanity.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .