Labour MP and former Minister Tulip Siddiq has accused authorities in Bangladesh of smearing her with “fake” identity documents. Documents have emerged which appear to suggest Ms Siddiq held a Bangladeshi passport and national identity card, contradicting her previous claims.
It comes as she faces an investigation in a Bangladeshi corruption case, after being accused of influencing her aunt to secure plots of land for her mother, brother and sister. It is feared that the papers could be used against her. But a spokesman for Ms Siddiq told The Daily Telegraph: “For nearly a year, the Bangladeshi authorities have pursued a politically motivated smear campaign against Tulip Siddiq.
“They have refused to engage with her legal team and have provided no evidence to support their baseless claims. They have now resorted to forging documents which are categorically fake and bear all the hallmarks of falsification.
“The Bangladeshi authorities have serious questions to answer regarding the authenticity of these documents.”
According to the Telegraph, the documents suggest Ms Siddiq received a Bangladeshi passport in 2001 and a national identity card in 2011, and that she applied to renew the passport in 2011.
But sources close to Ms Siddiq insist she nevr held a Bangladeshi national identity card, and only held a Bangladeshi passport as a child.
Ms Siddiq would be entiled to hold both British and Bangladeshi citizenship if she chose, as her parents are Bangladeshi citizens.
The MP is the niece of the former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheika Hasina, who fled the country in August last year after ruling for 15 years.
Ms Hasina had previously held the post for five years and she is the daughter of Bangladesh’s founding president.
She was ousted amid student-led protests that were met with violence by government forces, which saw nearly 300 people killed. She is now exiled in India.
In April, it was reported that Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission had sought an arrest warrant for Ms Siddiq over allegations the MP for Hampstead and Highgate illegally received a 7,200sq ft plot of land in the country’s capital.
Bangladeshi anti-corruption officials gave evidence in court on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.
Ms Siddiq has claimed she has not had any official communication about the trial.
In August, Ms Siddiq said: “The so-called trial now under way in Dhaka is nothing more than a farce – built on fabricated accusations and driven by a clear political vendetta.
“Over the past year, the allegations against me have repeatedly shifted, yet I have never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities once.
“I have never received a court summons, no official communication, and no evidence.
“If this were a genuine legal process, the authorities would have engaged with me or my legal team, responded to our formal correspondence, and presented the evidence they claim to hold.
“Instead, they have peddled false and vexatious allegations that have been briefed to the media but never formally put to me by investigators.
“Even my offer to meet Bangladesh’s Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus during his recent visit to London was refused. Such conduct is wholly incompatible with the principles of a fair trial that we uphold in the UK.
“I have been clear from the outset that I have done nothing wrong and will respond to any credible evidence that is presented to me. Continuing to smear my name to score political points is both baseless and damaging.”
The MP had resigned in January after six months in Government after an investigation by the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus into her links to Ms Hasina’s regime.
She came under scrutiny over her use of properties in London linked to her aunt’s allies. She stepped down and said she had become “a distraction” from Labour’s agenda.