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The former UK City minister says she is the victim of a politically motivated smear campaign
Published : 15 Apr 2025, 11:06 PM
Tulip Siddiq, former UK City minister and niece of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, has denied any wrongdoing after an arrest warrant was issued against her in a Bangladesh corruption case.
According to Sky News, Tulip told journalists outside her home on Monday that she is the "victim of a politically motivated smear campaign”.
A Dhaka court issued the warrant on Sunday against Tulip and 52 others.
The list also includes Hasina, her sister Sheikh Rehana, Rehana's son Radwan Mujib Siddiq Bobby, and daughter Azmina Siddique Ruponti.
The case was filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over irregularities in the allocation of plots in Purbachal.
Tulip’s lawyer Paul Thwaite earlier told the British news outlet on Sunday that the allegations were “completely false”.
He claimed there was “no basis at all for any charges to be made against her”.
Tulip said on Monday she had not been contacted by any Bangladeshi authorities and described the situation as a “trial by media”.
"I can't dignify this politically motivated smear campaign with any comment," she said.
Tulip also accused the authorities of attempting to "harass" her.
“There is no evidence I've done anything wrong", she said.
The Awami League government was toppled by a mass uprising on Aug 5, 2024— six months before Tulip stepped down as City minister.
She resigned in January amid criticism over reports that she had received a £700,000 London flat as a “gift” from a developer with close ties to Hasina and her party, the Awami League.
No evidence has been found of Tulip breaching the ministerial code while holding office.
The British prime minister's ethics advisor Sir Laurie Magnus had said it was "regrettable" that Tulip was not more "alert to the potential reputational risks" arising from her close family's association with Bangladesh.
At the time, Keir Starmer praised Tulip for her "difficult decision" to resign, assuring her that "the door remains open" for her in the future.
Sky News reported that the British Prime Minister's Office was asked whether Tulip's return was still possible, given the issuance of the warrant in Bangladesh and other developments.
A spokesperson responded: "We don’t comment on individual legal cases.”
A Conservative Party spokesman said Tulip "should immediately step down as a Labour MP" if she is the subject of an arrest warrant in Bangladesh.
Amid the ongoing debate over the warrant in the plot corruption case, the ACC opened another case against Tulip on Tuesday.
She has now been accused of abusing power to facilitate the “illegal transfer” of a plot in Dhaka’s Gulshan and allegedly accepting a flat as a “bribe” in return.
