 "Why Bangladesh has issued arrest warrant against Tulip Siddiq, UK MP and Sheikh Hasina's niece")
A court in Bangladesh has issued an arrest warrant for British Labour MP Tulip Siddiq over corruption allegations. The South Asian country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has accused her of illegally receiving a plot of land from her aunt, the former Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The Hampstead and Highgate MP has reportedly been named in the arrest warrant along with over 50 others. Siddiq has come under the scanner since Hasina resigned as PM and fled Bangladesh last August.
Let’s take a closer look.
The corruption charges against Tulip Siddiq
Tulip Siddiq, the former British City Minister, is facing a corruption probe in Bangladesh. There are allegations that she illegally acquired land in an upscale township near Dhaka during Hasina’s regime.
According to Financial Times (FT), a Dhaka court has issued an arrest warrant for Siddiq, her mother Sheikh Rehana, her aunt Hasina and other members of the family.
Bangladesh’s ACC has been probing corruption charges as part of its wider investigation of Hasina’s regime.
The ACC claims that Hasina and her family illegally got a half-acre plot in Purbachal, a major planned urban residential area on the outskirts of Dhaka.
As per The Guardian, Siddiq has been accused of using her political influence to convince her aunt Hasina to allocate three plots of land in the diplomatic zone of Dhaka for her mother Rehana, brother Radwan and sister Azmina, who are all based in the United Kingdom.
Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain Galib issued the arrest warrant on Sunday (April 13) after considering the three separate cases filed by the ACC, reported Bangladesh’s The Business Standard.
The ACC is investigating claims of embezzlement of up to £3.9 billion (Rs 44,148 crore) against Hasina and her family from infrastructure spending in Bangladesh.
Speaking to BBC earlier, ACC chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen said the corruption allegations are “by no means ’targeted and baseless’” and its investigation was “based on documentary evidence of corruption”. He said Siddiq should fight her case in Bangladesh.
Can Bangladesh arrest a British MP?
Tulip Siddiq’s lawyers have rebuffed the charges against her in Bangladesh , calling them “politically motivated.”
BBC reported citing the Labour MP’s lawyers as saying, “The allegations are completely false and have been dealt with in writing by Siddiq’s lawyers.
“The ACC has not responded to Siddiq or put any allegations to her directly or through her lawyers.
“Siddiq knows nothing about a hearing in Dhaka relating to her and she has no knowledge of any arrest warrant that is said to have been issued. To be clear, there is no basis at all for any charges to be made against her, and there is absolutely no truth in any allegation that she received a plot of land in Dhaka through illegal means.”
Her lawyers claimed the ACC has not provided any evidence to back their allegations. “She has never had a plot of land in Bangladesh, and she has never influenced any allocation of plots of land to her family members or anyone else.
The UK and Bangladesh have no formal extradition treaty that allows an accused to be sent to each other’s country to face justice.
Britain lists Bangladesh as a 2B extradition nation, meaning concrete evidence must be provided to ministers and judges will take a call on the extradition request.
Reacting to the arrest warrant against Siddiq, a Conservative party spokesperson said: “If it is the case that [UK PM] Keir Starmer’s choice for anti-corruption minister is the subject of an international arrest warrant for corruption, she should immediately stand down as Labour MP.
“It is shocking that Keir Starmer believes ‘the door remains open’ for Ms Siddiq returning to a government position. Keir Starmer must put his close friendship and association with Ms Siddiq aside and take the action he should have months ago.”
Why Tulip Siddiq resigned in the UK
Tulip Siddiq stepped down as UK PM Keir Starmer’s anti-corruption minister in January.
Last December, the Labour MP was named in an anti-corruption probe in Bangladesh against Hasina. Bobby Hajjaj, a political rival of the former Bangladesh PM, has accused Siddiq of brokering a deal in 2013 with Russia that exaggerated the price of a new nuclear power plant in Bangladesh.
Siddiq’s resignation came after Starmer’s ethics adviser’s investigation into her ties to Hasina’s regime.
The PM’s ethics adviser Laurie Magnus said in his report at the time that he had “not identified evidence of improprieties”, as per BBC.
“Given the nature of Ms Siddiq’s ministerial responsibilities, which include the promotion of the UK financial services sector and the inherent probity of its regulatory framework as a core component of the UK economy and its growth, it is regrettable that she was not more alert to the potential reputational risks – both to her and the government – arising from her close family’s association with Bangladesh,” Magnus said.
Amid political pressure, Siddiq resigned as economic secretary to the Treasury, saying she had become “a distraction” from the government’s agenda.
With inputs from agencies
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
 "Russian drones over Poland: Trump’s tepid reaction a wake-up call for Nato?")
 "As Russia pushes east, Ukraine faces mounting pressure to defend its heartland")
 "Why Mossad was not on board with Israel’s strike on Hamas in Qatar")
 "Turkey: Erdogan's police arrest opposition mayor Hasan Mutlu, dozens officials in corruption probe")
