Tulip Siddiq ‘used influence over her aunt to acquire land for family'

Times

a day ago

Tulip Siddiq used her 'special power' as an MP in Britain to exert influence over her aunt, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, to acquire state-owned land, an anti-corruption trial was told.
Prosecutors in Bangladesh allege that Siddiq applied pressure on Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed as the country's leader last year, to secure plots of land for her mother, brother, and sister.
Siddiq, 42, resigned as the anti-corruption minister in Sir Keir Starmer's government in January over 'reputational risks' from her family's links with the Hasina regime.
The MP is not attending the trial at Dhaka Special Judge Court 4, which formally began on Wednesday, and has described the case against her as 'persecution and a farce'.
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She claims to have become 'collateral damage' in a power struggle between her aunt and Muhammad Yunus, Hasina's replacement as leader in the south Asian country.
Officials from the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) told the court that Siddiq played a central role in acquiring plots of land for relatives in the diplomatic zone of Dhaka in 2022.
The court was told that Siddiq had learnt that her aunt had 'used her power' to acquire plots in the Purbachal New Town Project, a long-running land development programme operated by a government agency, Rajuk.
Siddiq is then said to have 'simultaneously used her special power to exert pressure and influence on her aunt', according to Afnan Jannat Keya, an ACC assistant director.
He said that this led to plots being allotted to her mother, Sheikh Rehana; her sister, Azmina Siddique; and her brother, Radwan Mujib Siddiq.
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Siddiq is also accused of seeking to influence the secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and other officials on the instructions of her aunt to acquire a plot for her sister.
'In view of this, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works issued a letter to the chairman of Rajuk to proceed with the allotment,' the court heard.
Siddiq is alleged to own a flat in the upmarket Gulshan neighbourhood of the capital, Dhaka, which investigators say should have ruled her out from availing of the award of land under the scheme.
The ACC is examining claims that Hasina and her family misappropriated billions of pounds of state money during her 15-year reign. Hasina, who is living in exile in India after fleeing during mass protests, faces trial in absentia for crimes against humanity during her time in power.
Judge Muhammad Rabiul Alam heard the opening statements from three ACC officials relating to three cases on Wednesday.
SM Rashidul Hasan, another ACC assistant director, named Tulip Siddiq among 16 people who are accused of offences, including her brother and aunt.
The judge set aside August 28 for the next stage in the trial, when prosecution witnesses and evidence will be presented.
In a statement published on Monday, Siddiq claimed that she had yet to receive a summons, adding: 'No fair legal process should begin with a media headline. Unfortunately that's what I have been handed out. No engagement. No evidence. Not even a response to legitimate inquiries from my lawyers.'
In an interview in The Guardian, she said: 'I'm yet to see a summons … I'm supposedly days away from a showcase trial in a foreign country, and I still don't know what the charges are.
'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.'
The ACC's prosecutor, Muhammad Tariqul Islam, said Bangladeshi authorities had served notices on each of the accused, instructing them to appear before the court as the trial began.
'If any of them want to contest the allegations, they must appear before the court,' he told reporters outside the courtroom. None of those accused has engaged counsel to represent them at the trial.
Prosecutors have separately disputed Siddiq's claims not to have Bangladeshi citizenship, claiming they have unearthed her Bangladeshi passport and identity card. In 2017 she said: 'I am not Bangladeshi.'
Asked about her nationality, Mohammad Sultan Mahmud, another ACC prosecutor, said all necessary documents relating to Siddiq and her family would be produced during the trial.
Siddiq's lawyers, from Stephenson Harwood, denied that such documents existed and said that she has not had a Bangladeshi passport since she was a child.
The MP for Hampstead & Highgate has always denied wrongdoing and accused the Bangladeshi authorities of a 'targeted and baseless' campaign against her. 'I'm collateral damage, because of this feud between Muhammad Yunus and my aunt,' she said. 'These are wider forces that I'm battling against.'
She resigned from the Labour frontbench after referring herself to the ministerial standards adviser after reports that she had lived in London properties with links to Hasina.
Siddiq had initially claimed that a £650,000 flat in King's Cross in London was given to her by her parents. It later transpired, however, that the flat had been paid for by a developer and associate of figures in the Awami League, Hasina's party.