A GROUP of senior British lawyers and legal experts has warned against what they describe as an unfair trial against Labour MP Tulip Siddiq in Bangladesh.
Siddiq, the niece of ousted Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina, resigned as a Treasury minister in prime minister Keir Starmer’s Cabinet earlier this year after corruption allegations involving her family made international headlines.
Her trial began in Dhaka in August, with the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) expected to deliver its verdict later this week.
In a letter to Bangladesh’s high commissioner to the UK, Abida Islam, the group — including Cherie Blair, wife of former prime minister Tony Blair, and former ministers Robert Buckland and Dominic Grieve — said Siddiq had been denied basic rights during the proceedings.
“Such a process is artificial and an unfair way of pursuing a prosecution,” the letter stated, as reported by The Guardian on Tuesday (25).
The letter came shortly after a special tribunal in Bangladesh sentenced Hasina to death in absentia.
“As she lives in the UK and is a British national, she is not a fugitive. She is an elected member of Parliament who can be reached through the House of Commons and, if justified, extradited to Bangladesh through proper legal channels,” the letter added.
It further noted that Siddiq had not received formal charges or evidence against her and was unable to secure legal representation in Bangladesh. The lawyer she had appointed was reportedly placed under house arrest and threatened, forcing him to withdraw.
The signatories expressed concern about reports of intimidation and interference in Bangladesh’s legal system since the interim government took power.
The ACC under chief adviser Muhammad Yunus has accused Siddiq of obtaining a 7,200-square-foot plot in Dhaka’s diplomatic zone through abuse of influence — a claim she denies, calling the prosecution politically driven.
In her resignation letter in January, Siddiq noted that the Independent Adviser on Ministers’ Interests had found no breach of the UK Ministerial Code and said she had not acted improperly.
The lawyers’ letter also stated that ongoing media coverage in Bangladesh accusing Siddiq of wrongdoing undermines her right to a fair and impartial trial.
“Given all the circumstances, we have serious concerns that the trial of Ms Siddiq in absentia is unfair and that she has not been given any proper opportunity to defend herself,” it added.
The Bangladeshi high commission in London has not commented on the letter or the media reports.
Siddiq posted on social media thanking the cross-party group of lawyers for highlighting what she described as deep flaws in Bangladesh’s justice system.
On November 17, Hasina was sentenced to death in absentia by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) for crimes against humanity linked to a deadly crackdown on student protests last year. The tribunal called her the “mastermind” of the operation that left hundreds dead.
(PTI)
