Bangladesh Authorities Step Up Pursuit of Tulip Siddiq – Guido Fawkes

Bangladesh Authorities Step Up Pursuit of Tulip Siddiq

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One day after Tulip Siddiq gave a piece to camera after handing Sky News the latest letter her lawyers sent to Bangladeshi authorities demanding the case against her be dropped, the Anti-Corruption Commission in Bangladesh has responded. Not mincing words…

Tulip, who along with her lawyers has always denied all wrongdoing, claimed she should be allowed to get on with her job as a London MP. The Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Mohammad Abdul Momen said:

“My simple question is: What kind of case is Tulip Siddiq’s case that would make Britain’s fragile politics even more fragile? We can look at this differently. A criminal who commits a crime in a country must face it in that country. It now seems she probably wants to settle the case through exchanging letters. This shouldn’t happen. The case is in court. Tulip Siddiq must appear in court and face the case.”

Siddiq declined to say yesterday that she would go to Bangladesh to clear her name in the courts. She did claim the case against her was politically motivated. To this Momen said:

“This is neither a politically motivated case nor a case to belittle anyone. Tulip Siddiq is an accused, like many other accused individuals. We have many bigger cases than this. Tulip is a Bangladeshi citizen to us. She has a national identity card. She has a TIN. We have filed a case against her in Bangladesh. I believe Tulip will follow Bangladesh’s laws and face the case.”

Bangladeshi authorities have indicated that if Siddiq is unwilling to travel to Bangladesh to face charges they will file a red notice with Interpol. Momen raised an interesting point:

“Tulip knew everything from the beginning, which is why she had to step down from her ministerial position. There are three cases against Tulip. The trial will continue in her absence. Is British politics so fragile that the British government and politics will completely collapse if a case is filed against one of their citizens? Is that even possible?”

The MP has always denied that is the case. It looks increasingly unlikely Bangladeshi authorities will let up on Siddiq after her letter campaign…