A Dhaka court on Monday sentenced British MP Tulip Siddiq to two years in prison in a corruption case over alleged irregularities in plot allocations under the Purbachal New Town Project.
The same verdict delivered five years’ imprisonment for her aunt and ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, and seven years for her mother Sheikh Rehana, marking the first time a foreign lawmaker has been convicted by a Bangladeshi court.
Special Judge’s Court-4 judge Md Rabiul Alam pronounced the judgement at around 11:30am, handing down sentences to a total of 17 accused, including 14 former government and Rajuk officials who received five-year jail terms each.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case on 13 January as part of its sweeping post-uprising investigations into alleged graft involving the former ruling family.
Tulip — a Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, former UK Treasury minister, and one of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s close parliamentary allies — was sentenced in absentia. The court imposed on her a fine of Tk1 lakh, with six months of additional jail time in case of non-payment. Hasina and Rehana received the same fine.
With the verdict, Bangladesh’s judicial system has entered uncharted territory: never before has it convicted a serving member of a foreign parliament, let alone one linked by blood to a former head of government now facing multiple graft convictions.
During the verdict, Judge Alam issued a strong rebuke over the absence of the three most high-profile accused.
He noted that the court had ordered the accused to appear and even published a gazette notice directing their attendance.
The judge said that since Hasina, Rehana and Tulip did not comply with the court’s order, they were declared fugitives, and trial in absentia proceeded accordingly.
“Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Rehana and Tulip — no matter where in the world they reside — face no barrier to being tried under the laws of Bangladesh.”
This judicial remark underscored the symbolic and legal significance of the verdict: the country’s legal process, the judge said, would not be halted or influenced based on the political stature or international presence of any defendant.
Explosive allegations and a politically charged trial
According to ACC, Tulip abused her influence as a UK MP to secure a 10-katha Rajuk plot for her mother at Purbachal, pressuring then–prime minister Sheikh Hasina and using “direct communication through mobile and online applications” with the PM’s principal secretary Salahuddin to fast-track the allotment. The court said this was proven through witness testimony.
Rehana, along with Sheikh Hasina’s children Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Saima Wazed Putul, and Hasina herself, allegedly received Purbachal plots despite having other properties within Rajuk jurisdictions, rendering them ineligible. ACC argues that all six plots were allotted after the application deadline had expired — an illegality the agency says was facilitated through systematic abuse of political power.
Six separate cases were filed over the six plots. The day’s ruling concerned the plot allotted in Rehana’s name. Tulip is also an accused in the cases involving plots taken by her siblings Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Azmira Siddiq Ruponty, both still pending judgement.
The court relied on the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947 (Section 5(2)) and Penal Code 109 to convict Tulip, establishing that her political and familial proximity to the centre of power played a decisive role in the allotment.
Reactions in Dhaka: Security tightened, ACC wants harsher sentences
Security in and around the Dhaka court complex was significantly tightened from early morning, with contingents deployed at key entry points. Journalists from BBC, Sky News, and UK-based reporter David Bergman were present to cover the proceedings, underscoring global media attention.
Despite winning convictions against all accused, ACC’s lawyer Khan Md Mainul Hasan said the verdict fell short of expectations.
“Our expectations were not met. We sought the maximum penalty — life imprisonment,” he told reporters, adding that ACC would review the detailed judgement before deciding on grounds for appeal.
He said ACC would seek Interpol assistance to bring back fugitive accused, including Tulip, noting, “She is both a Bangladeshi and British national. We will notify the Foreign Ministry, and the government will follow legal procedures for repatriation.”
A senior official at Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said any formal move would require a government decision, after which legal processes could begin.
ACC Director General Akhter Hossain said they had not yet received a certified copy of the verdict.
“After scrutinising the judgement, the next course of action will be determined,” he said.
The British High Commission in Dhaka did not respond to a request for comment from the TIMES of Bangladesh.
Effects in the UK: A political and diplomatic dilemma
In the United Kingdom, the conviction of Tulip — who resigned from her ministerial post earlier this year after controversy erupted — triggered immediate ripples across Westminster. It places Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a politically uncomfortable position, given Tulip’s long-standing proximity to Labour leadership.
UK law prevents automatic disqualification of an MP convicted abroad unless the sentence is enforceable — and Bangladesh and the UK do not have an extradition treaty. Still, British political analysts say the optics are severe: a sitting MP convicted in an overseas corruption trial connected to her family’s political dynasty.
In a statement, Tulip rejected the verdict, saying the process had been “flawed and farcical from the beginning to the end”.
“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, she said.
“My focus has always been my constituents in Hampstead and Highgate, and I refuse to be distracted by the dirty politics of Bangladesh,” she added.
The UK media — including BBC, The Guardian, Sky News, The Times, and Financial Times — published prominent stories on the sentencing, many highlighting trial-in-absentia concerns and the political implications for Starmer’s government.
London’s Bangladeshi diaspora communities were split in their reactions: some defended Siddiq as a victim of political vendetta, while critics argued that “accountability should apply irrespective of geography or status.”
A family dynasty under mounting legal siege
Hasina, who has already received multiple convictions — including a death sentence — since her ouster in the July 2024 mass uprising, now faces an expanding web of graft and abuse-of-power cases. Monday’s verdict delivers yet another blow to a family once entrenched at the apex of Bangladesh’s political establishment.
Rehana, long seen as less publicly political but financially and organisationally influential within the family network, has now received her first-ever conviction, marking a dramatic escalation in the legal pressure surrounding the Sheikh Mujib family.
For Tulip, the political symbolism is profound: she is the first foreign-born member of the Sheikh family to occupy high office abroad — and now the first to be convicted by her ancestral homeland’s court.
Bangladesh’s political observers say the judgement signals the state’s determination to dismantle what the interim administration calls “institutionalised patronage and unaccountable concentration of power.”
With two more Purbachal cases still pending, Tulip’s legal exposure remains significant — as does Hasina’s.
