Oh dear. Former government minister Tulip Siddiq has come under scrutiny over former claims she made about holding a Bangladesh national identity card. The Labour MP is on trial in abstentia in Bangladesh after being accused of influencing her aunt, the deposed authoritarian ruler Sheikh Hasina, to buy plots of land for her family. She has denied any wrongdoing – and last month, Siddiq denied further claims made by prosecutors that she has been issued with a national identity card and passport. However, as reported by the Times, files have emerged that appear to show the Labour MP was indeed issued with these documents. How very curious…
Officials in Dhaka have come across passport records that seem to prove Siddiq was issued with one in London in 2001 – when the politician was 19 – and given a national identity card in 2011. Meanwhile entries in Bangladesh’s passport database appear to show Siddiq had applied to renew her Bangladeshi passport in 2011. Both records see her permanent addresss as listed as a house in Dhaka that her aunt owned. Electoral Commission database entries also seem to show she has a voter registration number.
In April, Siddiq had an arrest warrant issued against her in Bangladesh over alleged corruption charges. In one of at least three investigations against the Hampstead and Highgate MP, Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has accused Siddiq of putting pressure on her aunt to give plots of land in a Dhaka residential development to three of the parliamentarian’s family members. The MP has also been accused of helping Hasina siphon off large sums of money intended for eight infrastructure projects.
In January, Siddiq was outed for owning a £700,000 London flat, given to her for free by a political ally of her aunt. A subsequent probe by Sir Laurie Magnus found Siddiq ‘misled’ the public over her flat and the politician was forced to resign from her government job in January after an official probe found her family’s links to the ousted Bangladeshi regime exposed the government to ‘reputational risks’. The warrant was issued by a judge in Dhaka after the ACC submitted a criminal charge sheet against the politician – who was formerly, um, Labour’s anti-corruption minister. The jokes write themselves…
The ACC, which has been probing Siddiq and members of her family, has since said that she is being tried as a Bangladeshi citizen after her passport, national identity card and tax identity number were found. A spokesperson for her lawyers told the Financial Times last month that ‘Tulip has never had a Bangladesh national identity card or voter ID and has not held a passport since she was a child.’ When presented with the newly uncovered records, Siddiq’s spokesperson claimed they were ‘fabricated’ as part of a ‘politically motivated smear campaign’ by Bangladeshi authorities.
The Labour MP’s spokesperson added:
For nearly a year, the Bangladeshi authorities have pursued a politically motivated smear campaign against Ms Siddiq without producing a shred of credible evidence. They are now circulating fabricated documents in a desperate attempt to justify their so-called trial. Ms Siddiq has never held a Bangladeshi national identity card or voter ID, and has not held a passport since childhood. This is a deliberate and desperate attempt to undermine her credibility and reputation.
Sir Laurie Magnus CBE, the prime minister’s adviser on ministerial standards, has already cleared Ms Siddiq of any wrongdoing following a thorough investigation. Now almost 12 months since these allegations were first made, Ms Siddiq is still yet to receive any communication from the Bangladeshi authorities. Ms Siddiq has been clear that she has done nothing wrong and will respond to any credible evidence that is presented directly to her or her legal team.
The plot thickens…
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