British MP Tulip Siddiq sentenced to 2 years in prison

British Labour Party MP Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced to two years in prison by Dhaka’s Fourth Special Judge Court in the much-discussed Purbachal “plot corruption” case in Bangladesh. In the verdict delivered on Monday by Judge Robiul Alam, Tulip’s mother Sheikh Rehana was sentenced to seven years in prison for “corruption” involving the allocation of a 10-katha plot, and her aunt, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment. Other accused in the same case were also sentenced to five years each.

In addition to this case, Tulip Siddiq is also an accused in several other “corruption cases” involving plots belonging to her brother Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby and her sister Azmimina Siddiq Rukuntie. Earlier, last Thursday, another court sentenced Sheikh Hasina to a total of 21 years in three separate “Purbachal plot corruption” cases. Besides, two other cases against Bangabandhu’s granddaughter Tulip Siddiq are still at the evidence-recording stage.

At the beginning of 2025, when she was the UK’s City Minister (Minister for Financial Services), British media reported that she had received a flat worth 700,000 pounds in London as a “gift” from a developer close to the Awami League. Soon after, facing criticism and in the interest of ensuring impartial investigation, she resigned. However, the subsequent investigation commission of the British government declared Tulip innocent. At the same time, the interim government also brought allegations against her involving corruption in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project.

According to the ACC, in 2015 Tulip Siddiq transferred to her sister Rukuntie a Gulshan flat she had inherited from her parents. The interim government claimed the notarized deed of that transfer was “fake.” This information was later used as an important basis for the corruption case.

After an arrest warrant was issued in April, Tulip’s lawyers alleged that the ACC had failed to present “authentic documents” and had also failed to contact them. They claimed that this violated Tulip Siddiq’s fundamental right to fair justice.

Meanwhile, ACC Chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen raised the question—if Tulip is innocent, why did she resign, or why did she try to contact the ACC through her lawyer? Yet it is widely known that in British culture, when allegations are brought against someone, they resign in the interest of neutrality—whether guilty or not. And it is a standard practice to communicate through lawyers in legal matters.

Tulip Siddiq was first elected to the British Parliament in 2015. Winning the next two elections as well, she rose to important leadership positions in the Labour Party. After the Labour Party formed the government in the 2024 election, she was appointed Minister for Financial Services.