Dhaka, December 3 — Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has issued a detailed response to media queries about the trial and sentencing in a case involving UK Member of Parliament Tulip Siddiq. The commission said it reviewed all prosecution documents supplied by the independent statutory body and concluded a careful factual examination was necessary.
According to the ACC, case files allege corruption linked to the allotment of government land in the names of Siddiq’s relatives, including her aunt, the deposed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her mother Sheikh Rehana, and other family members. The records also show at least one pending matter in which Siddiq herself is listed as having received a plot during her aunt’s time in office.
Of three related cases, the ACC said the first trial has ended with a finding that Siddiq influenced her aunt to secure land for Siddiq’s mother and siblings. In Special Case No. 18 of 2025 before Special Tribunal No. 5, prosecutors alleged Siddiq “influenced, coaxed, and persuaded” her aunt to misuse her position to obtain plots for the family. The prosecution reportedly called 32 witnesses, several of whom testified under oath that Siddiq—described as close to her aunt—used her influence to obtain the allotments. The ACC said their testimony, together with circumstantial evidence showing plots registered in Siddiq’s and relatives’ names, indicates substantial involvement and amounted to abetment under provisions of the Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
The commission highlighted details alleging Siddiq obtained a high-value Gulshan plot (initially recorded as Plot No. CWN (A)-27, later changed to Plot No. 05, Block NE(A), Gulshan, Flat No. B/201, House Nos. 5A and 5B, now renumbered as 115 and 11B, Road No. 71, Gulshan-2) through improper influence. The ACC stressed these are valuable urban parcels in one of Dhaka’s most expensive neighborhoods—suitable for substantial homes or apartment buildings—rather than remote agricultural land. It said government land intended to help ease Dhaka’s housing pressures had instead been allocated to people close to the prime minister, contributing to family wealth accumulation.
The ACC also linked Siddiq to five London properties bought with assistance from offshore companies, and said this raised questions about how public figures secure resources to acquire multiple properties in two major capitals. The commission said it sought explanations from Siddiq but that she was tried in absentia. The ACC rejected Siddiq’s assertion that she could not respond to the charges, saying she had been given opportunities to appear in court or be represented but declined to do so.
Taken together, the ACC said these findings show Siddiq’s continued involvement in aiding and abetting corruption under Bangladeshi law and that there is no basis to conclude she was uninvolved or innocent of the charges.
Siddiq, who was sentenced in absentia to two years in prison, described the Bangladeshi court process as “flawed and farcical” and urged that the verdict be treated with contempt. “This whole process has been flawed and farcical from the beginning to the end. The outcome of this kangaroo court is as predictable as it is unjustified,” she told a British-Canadian newspaper.
This report is based on a syndicated feed (ANI) and is published as received.
