Labour MP Tulip Siddiq sentenced at corruption trial in Bangladesh

Labour MP Tulip Siddiq has been sentenced to two years in jail in absentia in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Ms Siddiq was accused of obtaining plots of land from her aunt, the country's former prime minister, in Dhaka's diplomatic zone, through "abuse of power and influence".

She was being tried in absentia.

Her aunt, Sheikh Hasina, was ousted last year and has since been sentenced to death, although she fled to India before she could be arrested.

Ms Siddiq, her niece, has described herself as "collateral damage" in the new government's campaign against Sheikh Hasina.

The Labour MP resigned her ministerial post earlier this year after she was accused of illegally receiving a plot of land from her aunt.

An investigation by the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, did not find "evidence of improprieties". But he said it was "regrettable" that Ms Siddiq had not been more alert to the "potential reputational risks" of the ties to her aunt.

Last week, a group of prominent British lawyers and former cabinet ministers wrote an open letter raising "profound concerns" over Ms Siddiq's trial in Bangladesh.

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