Bangladeshi authorities have issued a warrant for the arrest of former UK minister Tulip Siddiq.
The Labour MP, who resigned as economic secretary to the Treasury in January, is the niece of Bangladesh’s former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Hasina led the country for 15 years until she was removed from power last August following an uprising.
Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has been probing allegations against Hasina and her relatives, claiming that they illegally received land.
Bangladeshi media reported that a judge issued the warrant for 53 people connected to Hasina, including Siddiq, Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, and her brother, Radwan Siddiq.
Lawyers for Siddiq described the charges as “politically motivated” and “completely false”.
‘Allegations are complet
In a statement shared with Euronews, Tulip Siddiq’s lawyers Stephenson Harwood said: “The allegations are completely false and have been dealt with in writing by Siddiq’s lawyers.”
Siddiq has no knowledge of a hearing or an arrest warrant that was allegedly issued, Harwood added. There is no basis for the charges against the Labour MP, or truth to claims she participated in real estate-related wrongdoing in the Bangladeshi capital, according to him.
“She has never had a plot of land in Bangladesh, and she has never influenced any allocation of plots of land to her family members or anyone else.”
“No evidence has been provided by the ACC to support this or any other allegation made against Siddiq, and it is clear to us that the charges are politically motivated.”
The UK classifies Bangladesh as a B2 extradition country, requiring clear evidence to act on Dhaka’s warrants.
Siddiq, who represents the London constituency of Hampstead and Highgate in Parliament, quit her post as the minister responsible for tackling corruption after she was named in Bangladesh’s anti-corruption investigation into Hasina and her relatives.
The probe alleged that Siddiq’s relatives were involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh that involved embezzlement.
The former minister said in January that she had been cleared of wrongdoing, but that the issue was becoming “a distraction from the work of the government.”
Bangladesh’s anti-corruption committee was contacted for comment.
Hasina has been in exile in India since early August, following the mass protests that removed her from power. She fled amid an uprising that saw thousands of protesters in Bangladesh storm her residence.
ADVERTISEMENTMore than 1,400 people were killed, mostly by security forces, in the crackdowns on the anti-government protests. The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) in February said that the former government could be guilty of crimes against humanity.
The protests began with students demonstrating against a quota system for government jobs that they said was discriminatory.
Additional sources • AP
Source: Euro News
