Bangladesh Court Issues Arrest Warrant for UK MP Tulip Siddiq in Corruption Case

A court in Bangladesh has approved an arrest warrant for British lawmaker and former UK anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq, over corruption allegations tied to her aunt, ousted former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The warrant, approved Monday, follows Siddiq’s resignation from the UK government in January amid growing scrutiny over her alleged involvement in land grabbing and embezzlement investigations led by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

“The accused were absent, and that’s why the court approved the arrest warrant,” public prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam told AFP.

Siddiq, a sitting Member of Parliament for the UK’s Labour Party, is a niece of Hasina, who fled Bangladesh in August 2024 following widespread student-led protests that forced her out of office. Hasina is now in India, where the Bangladeshi government has repeatedly requested her extradition.

According to the ACC, Siddiq and several family members are suspected of acquiring lucrative land in a Dhaka suburb through improper means. In addition, they are reportedly under investigation for alleged embezzlement of $5 billion tied to a Russian-funded nuclear power plant project.

Despite the escalating legal drama, Siddiq’s legal team maintains her innocence. “Ms 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,” said Stephenson Harwood LLP, the law firm representing her, in a statement. “The ACC has not responded to Ms Siddiq or put any allegations to her directly or through her lawyers.”

However, Bangladeshi authorities argue that official communication was unnecessary, pointing to extensive media coverage as sufficient notice.

While the court has greenlit the warrant, it is expected to be formally signed on Tuesday, a senior ACC official said under condition of anonymity.

This latest development deepens the political and legal quagmire surrounding the Hasina family, and marks a rare case of a foreign sitting MP facing criminal proceedings tied to a government scandal abroad.