Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced to two years in prison by a Dhaka court for her role in a corruption case, but won’t serve time due to lack of UK-Bangladesh extradition treaty
- Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has been handed a two-year jail term by a Dhaka court for her involvement in a corruption scandal tied to a government land scheme.
- The court ruled that the Labour MP had wrongfully swayed her aunt, deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, to obtain a plot of land for her mother, Sheikh Rehana, who was slapped with a seven-year sentence as the principal defendant in the case.
- The proceedings focused on the Purbachal New Town project, a government development situated in a Dhaka suburb. Siddiq, who serves Hampstead and Highgate in the UK Parliament, has rejected all charges.
- Hasina, meanwhile, was handed five years in her absence, having fled to India after being ousted from power last year.
- Despite receiving the two-year custodial sentence, Siddiq is highly unlikely to spend any time behind bars in Bangladesh.
- She has remained in London throughout the proceedings, which have taken place entirely without her presence, and denies any wrongdoing
- Siddiq’s legal team is contesting her status as a Bangladeshi citizen, pointing out that she hasn’t held a Bangladeshi passport since her childhood and has never possessed a voter ID or official ID card.
- READ THE FULL STORY: Labour MP sentenced to two years in prison after major corruption scandal
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