Bangladesh's deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's niece Tulip Siddiq, who is a Labour Party MP in the UK, on Monday condemned her two years' imprisonment after a trial in absentia by an anti-corruption tribunal in Bangladesh as “unjustified”.
The 43-year-old had resigned as a Treasury minister in British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Cabinet earlier this year as the allegations of corruption against her family hit worldwide headlines.
A trial by Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) against her and her family was underway in Dhaka.
“The whole process has been flawed and farcical from the beginning to the end," said Siddiq.
"The outcome of this kangaroo court is as predictable as it is unjustified. I hope this so-called 'verdict' will be treated with the contempt it deserves. My focus has always been my constituents in Hampstead and Highgate, and I refuse to be distracted by the dirty politics of Bangladesh,” she said.
Last week, in a letter addressed to Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK Abida Islam, senior UK lawyers, including Cherie Blair – the wife of former UK prime minister Tony Blair, and former ministers Robert Buckland and Dominic Grieve had expressed concerns over the “unfair and contrived” trial.
Siddiq has consistently denied all the charges and described herself as "collateral damage" in the new Bangladesh government, led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, campaign against Sheikh Hasina, and dismissed the trial as being based on "fabricated accusations and driven by a clear political vendetta".
In her resignation letter to Starmer back in January, she pointed out that his Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests had not found her in breach of the UK's Ministerial Code and asserted that she had not “acted improperly”.
The cross-party legal experts' letter last week highlighted that it is difficult to see how widespread media engagement in Bangladesh accusing Siddiq of criminal wrongdoing can be “consistent with a fair and impartial trial free from interference”.
“Given all of the circumstances, we have serious concerns that the trial of Ms Siddiq in absentia is unfair, that she does not have a proper opportunity of defending herself, or indeed any opportunity at all, that she is being tried in her absence without justification and that the proceedings fall far short of standards of fairness recognised internationally,” they pointed out.
Siddiq had expressed her gratitude and cautioned that the “flawed” system “seems set to convict me”.
She was sentenced by Judge Rabiul Alam to two years in prison and a 100,000 Bangladeshi Taka, or 620 pounds fine. If she fails to pay the fine, six months will be added to her prison sentence.
A Labour Party spokesperson said the MP has “not had access to a fair legal process in this case and has never been informed of the details of the charges against her”.
"This is despite repeated requests made to the Bangladeshi authorities through her legal team. Anyone facing any charge should always be afforded the right to make legal representations when allegations are made against them," the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, her aunt Sheikh Hasina was handed a combined 21-year prison sentence in corruption cases last week.
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