British MP and former UK Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq has claimed she is the victim of political vendetta after being indicted in a plot corruption case in Dhaka.
Tulip, niece of deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, said the case was entirely baseless and politically motivated. She was charged along with 20 others over allegations of using influence to secure plots in Dhaka’s Purbachal for her mother, brother and sister. On Monday, a Dhaka court framed charges and set the date for hearings.
Speaking to British daily The Guardian on Sunday, Tulip called the allegations “unreasonable” and said, “My life has been turned upside down by becoming a victim of Bangladesh’s dirty politics.” She claimed she had been caught in the feud between Nobel laureate economist Muhammad Yunus and her aunt Sheikh Hasina.
“Some people in Bangladesh have done wrong and they should be punished, but I am not one of them,” she told The Guardian.
Tulip said she is taking legal advice from Hugo Keith KC on whether to attend hearings in person or via video link, adding that she has yet to receive a formal court summons.
“Within days, a staged trial will begin against me in a foreign country. I still don’t know what the charges are. I feel like I’m trapped in a nightmare,” she said.
The government has said the trial will proceed in her absence if necessary. If convicted, the question of extradition between Bangladesh and the UK will arise.
Tulip claimed there is no extradition treaty between the two countries.
In addition to the plot case, she faces allegations of embezzling $500 million from the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project and receiving a flat in London’s King’s
Cross from a person linked to the Awami League.
Regarding a controversial photo tied to the Rooppur project, Tulip said she and her sister had visited their aunt during a trip to Russia. “We were not engaged in political discussions; we visited tourist sites, went to restaurants, and did some shopping,” she said.
She added that the photo in question was taken on the final day of the trip at a tea reception for politicians and family members, where she briefly met Russian President Vladimir Putin for two minutes.