British MP Tulip Siddiq has stated that her lawyers are "ready" to answer any formal questions regarding corruption allegations. She made this remark in an interview with Sky News, where she claimed that the Bangladeshi authorities have not yet contacted her, and she is still waiting for a response from them.
In January, after her name surfaced in connection with Bangladesh's corruption investigation, Tulip Siddiq resigned from her ministerial position. She said, "Why are you not looking at the letter sent by my lawyers and seeing whether I am obligated to answer any questions... [the Bangladeshi authorities] have never contacted me, and I am waiting for their response."
This was her first public comment after resigning from the government, where she mentioned, "Months have passed with accusations, but no one has contacted me."
Last month, interim leaders in Bangladesh told Sky News that MP Siddiq had "illegal assets" in the country and should be held accountable for them.
Tulip Siddiq's lawyers sent a letter to the Bangladesh Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) several weeks ago, stating that the allegations were "false and annoying." The letter further stated, "The Bangladesh ACC must question me before March 25, 2025, otherwise, we will assume that there are no legitimate questions." Today, in an online post, the former minister announced that the deadline had passed, and the authorities had not provided any response.
Sky News has reached out to the Bangladeshi government for comment.
The core of the allegations against Tulip Siddiq revolves around her connection with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been the leader of Bangladesh for 20 years. Hasina was forced to flee the country after several weeks of deadly protests last August. She is accused of being an authoritarian leader under whose regime politically motivated arrests, extrajudicial killings, and other abuses have occurred. Hasina has denied these allegations, calling them a political conspiracy.
Tulip Siddiq had resided in several properties in London, which were linked to the Awami League, the political party still led by her cousin, Sheikh Hasina.
She voluntarily reached out to Prime Minister Lorie Magnus to clarify her position, who stated that "no evidence of misconduct has been identified," but it was unfortunate that Siddiq had not been cautious about the "potential adverse impact of her relationship with her cousin."
Tulip Siddiq further mentioned that while being in a ministerial position could have misled the government, she insisted that she had not committed any wrongdoing.
