Hampstead MP responds to her anti-corruption trial in Bangladesh
The trial has started in Dhaka in Tulip Siddiq's absence
The MP for Hampstead and Highgate, Tulip Siddiq, has branded her trial in Bangladesh for alleged corruption "nothing more than a farce".
It's got underway in Dhaka today - with Bangladeshi anti-corruption officials giving evidence in court against the former minister accused of using her familial connection to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to obtain state-owned land plots in the South Asian country.
In a statement on X, Ms Siddiq said: "The so-called trial now underway in Dhaka is nothing more than a farce — built on fabricated accusations and driven by a clear political vendetta.
Over the past year, the allegations against me have repeatedly shifted, yet I have never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities once.
I have never received a court summons, no official communication, and no evidence.
If this were a genuine legal process, the authorities would have engaged with me or my legal team, responded to our formal correspondence, and presented the evidence they claim to hold."
Ms Siddiq, who is Ms Hasina's niece, resigned from her post as an anti-corruption minister in Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's government in January after reports that she lived in London properties linked to her aunt and was named in an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh.
She is being tried together with her mother, Sheikh Rehana, brother, Radwan Mujib, and sister, Azmina.
Ms Siddiq has been charged with facilitating their receipt of state land in a township project near the capital, Dhaka.
The four were indicted earlier and asked to appear in court, but the prosecution said they absconded and would be tried in absentia.
The trial at the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 formally began on Wednesday, hearing evidence from officials from the country's Anti-Corruption Commission.
The court had heard from two officials and a third was expected to testify later in the day, Muhammad Tariqul Islam, a public prosecutor, said.
Ms Siddiq's lawyers had previously called the charges baseless and politically motivated.
Separately, the anti-corruption investigation has also alleged that Ms Siddiq's family was involved in brokering a 2013 deal with Russia for a nuclear power plant in Bangladesh in which large sums of money were said to have been embezzled.
Tulip Siddiq quit as anti-corruption minister in January
The Labour MP represents the north London district of Hampstead and Highgate and served as economic secretary to the Treasury - the minister responsible for tackling financial corruption.
Ms Hasina was ousted after a 15-year rule in a student-led mass uprising in August last year. She fled to India and has been in exile ever since.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as interim leader and vowed to try the former prime minister.
Hundreds of protesters were killed during the uprising and Ms Hasina now faces charges, including crimes against humanity.