LABOUR MP Tulip Siddiq is scheduled to face trial in Bangladesh on August 11 over corruption allegations. The case is part of a wider investigation into the regime of her aunt, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed last year.
Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) confirmed Siddiq’s case will be heard along with more than 20 others, including Hasina and family members.
If Siddiq does not attend, the trial will proceed in her absence, BBC reported.
She is accused of influencing her aunt’s administration to secure a plot of land in Purbachal, Dhaka, for her mother, brother, and sister.
Siddiq has denied the allegations, saying she has not been contacted by Bangladeshi authorities and does not own any land in Purbachal. Lawyers for Siddiq called the accusations “politically motivated” and a “smear campaign.”
Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for Siddiq earlier this year. The ACC is also investigating her in a separate case over alleged embezzlement of £3.9bn linked to a 2013 nuclear power plant deal. Siddiq has denied involvement.
Siddiq resigned as UK treasury minister in January, saying staying on would be a “distraction,” while insisting she had done nothing wrong.
