Bangladeshi officers testify towards former British minister Tulip Siddiq in anti-corruption trial

Bangladeshi anti-corruption officers testified in courtroom on Wednesday (August 13, 2025) towards former British Minister Tulip Siddiq, accused of utilizing her familial connection to deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to acquire state-owned land plots within the South Asian nation.

Mr. Siddiq, who’s Ms. Hasina’s niece, resigned from her put up as an anti-corruption minister in Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s authorities in January following reviews that she lived in London properties linked to her aunt and was named in an anti-corruption investigation in Bangladesh.

She is being tried collectively along with her mom, Sheikh Rehana, brother, Radwan Mujib, and sister, Azmina. Mr. Siddiq has been charged with facilitating their receipt of state land in a township venture close to the capital, Dhaka. The 4 have been indicted earlier and requested to seem in courtroom, nevertheless, the prosecution stated they absconded and could be tried in absentia.

The trial on the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 formally started Wednesday (August 13, 2025) with testimonies by officers of the nation’s Anti-Corruption Commission. By Wednesday afternoon, the courtroom had heard from two officers and a 3rd is anticipated to testify later within the day, stated Muhammad Tariqul Islam, a public prosecutor.

Mr. Siddiq’s legal professionals had beforehand known as the fees baseless and politically motivated.

Separately, the anti-corruption investigation has additionally alleged that Mr. Siddiq’s household was concerned in brokering a 2013 cope with Russia for a nuclear energy plant in Bangladesh wherein giant sums of cash have been stated to have been embezzled.

Mr. Siddiq represents the north London district of Hampstead and Highgate in Parliament, served in Britain’s center-left Labor Party authorities as financial secretary to the Treasury — the minister chargeable for tackling monetary corruption.

Ms. Hasina was ousted after a 15-year rule in a student-led mass rebellion in August final 12 months. She fled to India and has been in exile ever since. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as interim chief and vowed to strive the previous prime minister. Hundreds of protesters have been killed throughout the rebellion and Hasina now faces fees, together with crimes towards humanity.