Prominent legal figures have condemned the legal proceedings in Bangladesh against former UK City Minister Tulip Siddiq as “contrived and unfair”, a message they passed on to the Bangladeshi Ambassador to the UK, Abida Islam.
Siddiq, who left her position in the UK government in January, is expected to be tried and sentenced in absentia, with prosecutors requesting the maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Tulip is the niece of ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who recently received a death sentence for crimes against humanity connected to the suppression of the student-led mass uprising in July 2024.
According to The Guardian, in correspondence addressed to the Bangladeshi high commissioner, a group of distinguished lawyers contended that Siddiq has been denied fundamental legal rights, asserting that she has not been properly informed of the accusations nor granted access to legal counsel.
They also alleged that Tulip Siddiq’s lawyer was placed under house arrest and his daughter threatened.
“Such a process is artificial and a contrived and unfair way of pursuing a prosecution,” they write.
The lawyers expressed their “profound concern regarding the current criminal proceedings in Bangladesh,” particularly given that “the leader of the interim government, chief adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, has repeatedly espoused the importance of the rule of law and justice in Bangladesh”.
Regarding Siddiq’s status, they stated: “As she lives in the UK and is a UK national, she is plainly not a fugitive. She is an elected member of parliament, who can be contacted at the House of Commons, and indeed extradited to Bangladesh to face charges if there are proper grounds for seeking her extradition.
“Not only has Ms Siddiq not been presented with the charges and evidence against her, she has also not been able to obtain legal representation.
“A lawyer in Bangladesh she appointed to represent her was forced to stand down, reporting that he had been placed under house arrest, further informing Ms Siddiq that his daughter had been threatened.
“This accords with reports of a pattern of interference and intimidation in the legal system since the interim government took office.”
They further alleged that the Dhaka anti-corruption commission handling the prosecution, along with Yunus, have made “repeated comments to the media about Ms Siddiq’s culpability”.
The UK lawyers stated: “We find it difficult to see how such widespread media engagement by those in power, accusing Ms 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.”
The legal experts urged Bangladeshi authorities to “rectify these concerns” to ensure a just legal process can take place.
In January, after media reports suggested she may have improperly benefited from her relationship with Sheikh Hasina, Sir Laurie Magnus, the independent adviser on the ministerial code, exonerated Siddiq of misconduct.
However, Magnus noted it was “regrettable that she was not more alert to the potential reputational risks” associated with her family connections and her ministerial position.
Siddiq resigned from her posts as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister, stating that the allegations from Bangladesh were becoming a distraction for the government.
