Bangladeshi court gives UK MP Tulip Siddiq prison term after trial in absentia

Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced by a Bangladeshi court (Victoria Jones/PA)

A court in Bangladesh’s capital on Monday sentenced ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to five years in prison and her niece, Labour MP Tulip Siddiq, to two years in prison for corruption involving a government land project.

Rabiul Alam, the judge of Dhaka’s Special Judge’s Court, said Ms Hasina misused her power as prime minister, while Ms Siddiq was guilty of corruptly influencing her aunt in helping her mother get a piece of land in a government project.

Ms Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, was given seven years in prison and was considered the prime participant in the case.

It involved the Purbachal New Town project in a suburb of Dhaka.

Ms Siddiq, who serves as the Member for Hampstead and Highgate in London, has denied the allegations.

Ms Hasina has been in exile in India since she was ousted by a mass uprising last year. The trial and others against her were conducted in absentia.