European MP Tulip Siddiq was arrested in Bangladesh on Sunday over allegations that it was involved a growing bribery investigation involving her uncle, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, led by former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
According to The Financial Times, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC ) warrant accuses Siddiq of unlawfully acquiring land through political influence.
The Hampstead and Highgate MP is one of more than 50 people named in connection with the research, which centers on reported abuse of state residence during Hasina’s program, which was ousted in August after widespread protests.
The ACC claims that Hasina’s state helped secure numerous area allocations and that Siddiq and her family were given a 7, 200 square foot storyline in Dhaka’s political zone. Additionally, there are claims that Siddiq is accused of helping to increase the project cost in a 2013 nuclear energy package with Russia, according to BBC.
Siddiq has vehemently refuted any accusations of misconduct. She claimed in a speech to her attorneys at Stephenson Harwood that she has “never had a plot of land in Bangladesh” and that she has never had any influence over the grant of plots of land to her family members or anyone else.
The allegations are” completely fake” and “politically motivated,” according to her legal crew, adding that neither Siddiq nor her attorneys had been fully contacted by the ACC or made aware of any hearing or permit.
According to the Financial Times, the subpoena apparently stems from her refusing to appear at a court hearing in Dhaka earlier this month. Her legal team contends that she had no understanding of the call or hear.
In January, Siddiq resigned as capital secretary in response to questions raised about her ties to the Hasina program.
In the UK, the complaints have caused a political backlash. She really immediately step down as Labour MP if it is true that Keir Starmer’s option for anti-corruption secretary is the subject of an international arrest permit for fraud, according to a spokesperson for the Conservative Party. The Guardian also criticized Starmer’s alleged accessibility to her return to the authorities, according to the newspaper.
Siddiq maintains that Hasina’s family is the target of a wider social strategy. Mohammad Abdul Momen, the head of the ACC, refuted these claims and claimed that the analysis is based on “documentary proof” and that Siddiq “must never avoid the court proceedings.”
Although Bangladesh is listed as a 2B abduction nation, distinct evidence must be provided for any legal action to proceed since the country does not have a formal extradition agreement with the UK.
