DHAKA, Feb 26 (Reuters) – A court in Bangladesh ordered authorities to seek an Interpol red notice against British lawmaker and former minister Tulip Siddiq on Thursday over alleged corruption linked to a private real estate project in the capital.
The court issued the order after the Anti-Corruption Commission filed a petition seeking international assistance for her arrest. The ACC alleges that Siddiq used her close family ties to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to influence the allocation of government land to a private company.
Siddiq, who is Hasina’s niece, has repeatedly denied the allegations, describing earlier verdicts against her as “flawed and farcical”. She has also said she is a British citizen, not a Bangladeshi national.
She did not immediately respond to email requests for comment, and there was no immediate reaction from her following the latest court order.
SENTENCED TO SIX YEARS IN PRISON
Bangladesh courts have already sentenced Siddiq to a total of six years in prison in three separate corruption cases, all related to alleged abuse of influence during Hasina’s time in office.
Siddiq resigned in January last year from her role as economic secretary to the Treasury under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, citing mounting political pressure over her links to Hasina, though she insisted she had been cleared of wrongdoing.
Britain does not have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh.
Hasina was ousted in 2024 amid a student‑led mass uprising that ended her 15‑year rule. She fled to neighbouring India that August at the height of the protests and has remained there since. She was later sentenced to death by a Bangladeshi court over her government’s violent crackdown on demonstrators.
Following Hasina’s removal, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus led an interim administration that oversaw an election on February 12, after which a new government took office under Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the son of Hasina’s arch‑rival and former premier Khaleda Zia.
(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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