Updated by Eric Kikomeko at 1447 EAT on Monday 1 December 2025

Labour MP and former minister Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced to two years in prison in Bangladesh after being tried in absentia alongside 16 others on corruption-related charges.

A court in Dhaka found her guilty of allegedly using her influence with her aunt, the ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to help secure a plot of land for her family on the outskirts of the capital — an allegation Siddiq strongly denies.

Siddiq, who lives in London and has rejected all charges against her, is not expected to serve the sentence.

The MP for Hampstead and Highgate still faces several other outstanding cases in Bangladesh.

Since Sheikh Hasina’s government was toppled, prosecutors in Bangladesh have launched a series of wide-ranging legal cases targeting the former prime minister, her associates and members of her family.

The case involving Siddiq — who resigned as a Treasury minister in January amid controversy over her links to Hasina — has been under way in Dhaka since August.

According to court documents, prosecutors alleged that Siddiq “forced and influenced her aunt and former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina using her special power to secure [a plot of land] for her mother Rehana Siddiq, sister Azmina Siddiq and brother Radwan Siddiq”.

A prosecutor for Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) previously said Siddiq was tried as a Bangladeshi citizen, claiming authorities had obtained her Bangladeshi passport, ID and tax number.

Siddiq’s lawyers have rejected this, telling the Financial Times that she has “never had” a Bangladeshi ID card or voter ID and “has not held a passport since she was a child”.

Judge Rabiul Alam sentenced Siddiq to two years in prison and fined her 100,000 Bangladeshi taka ($821; £620), with a further six months to be added if the fine is not paid.

When the trial opened, Siddiq said prosecutors had “peddled false and vexatious allegations that have been briefed to the media but never formally put to me by investigators”.

“I have been clear from the outset that I have done nothing wrong and will respond to any credible evidence that is presented to me,” she said in a statement released at the time. “Continuing to smear my name to score political points is both baseless and damaging.”

She has not made any public comment since the verdict was delivered according to BBC news.

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