I’m collateral damage of Bangladesh’s dirty politics, says Tulip

British MP and niece of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Tulip Siddiq has said “dirty politics” of Bangladesh has turned her life on its head.

In an exclusive interview with the Guardian she also described her indictment in a graft case as a consequence of a wider political feud.

“The truth is that I’m collateral damage, because of this feud between Muhammad Yunus and my aunt,” she said.

“These are wider forces that I’m battling against … There’s no doubt people have done wrong things in Bangladesh, and they should be punished for it. It’s just I’m not one of them.”

Tulip was charged with using her influence as the niece of Sheikh Hasina to secure a plot of land for her mother, brother and sister in Purbachal in Dhaka, the capital.

“Completely absurd,” Siddiq said about the graft allegation.

A trial date has been set for 11 August for her and more than 20 others.

When asked where she would make an appearance in person or by videolink she said, “I’m taking advice from Hugo Keith KC, who’s advising me on what my next steps are,” she says. “I’m yet to see an official summons … I mean, I’m supposedly days away from a showcase trial in a foreign country, and I still don’t know what the charges are against me. I feel a bit like I’m trapped in this Kafkaesque nightmare where I’ve been put on trial and I genuinely haven’t found out what the allegations are and what the trial is about.”

Siddiq, who represented Hampstead and Highgate and served as a Treasury minister until January, said, “There’s no extradition treaty, I looked that up myself actually.”

She learned of her indictment just over a week ago from a journalist who contacted her lawyer.

Bangladeshi authorities have said she could be tried in absentia, and the question of extradition may arise if she is convicted.

“I’m not here to defend my aunt. I know there’s an investigation going on about how her term in government ended. And I really hope the people of Bangladesh get the closure that they want,” she says.

Stories emerged accusing her of embezzling $5 billion from a nuclear power deal with Russia, based partly on a 2013 photo of her with Hasina and Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

She insisted she had no political role during that trip.

“My aunt went on a state visit to Russia, and my sister and I decided to travel from London to go see her in Russia,” she says.

“I was not involved in any sort of political discussions. We were sightseeing, and we were having a good time, just going to restaurants, shopping. Then on the last day, all the politicians who were there, their families were invited to a tea and reception, and a photo was taken. I met Putin for two minutes.”

She also rejected claims she was gifted a London flat, explaining it belonged to her ‘godfather’ and that a previous comment to the press about her parents buying it was due to their faulty memory.

It was a mistake, grounded in the failing memory of her elderly parents, who separated a quarter of a century ago, she says.

Siddiq said she temporarily moved into another property for security reasons after being warned of a threat, paying market rent.

She resigned in order to stop the story from being a distraction for the government despite Starmer’s continued support, she says.