I am the victim...

... says Labour MP Tulip Siddiq after being jailed for two years

- BY DAVE BURKE Political Correspondent

A LABOUR MP says she is a victim of dirty politics after being sentenced to two years in jail in Bangladesh.

Former Treasury minister Tulip Siddiq dismissed the sentence handed out in her absence - for alleged corruption as a kangaroo court ruling.

Ms Siddiq denies allegations that she influenced her aunt ousted Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina - to help her mother get land in a government project.

The Labour Party said it was standing by the MP for Hampstead and Highgate. She was convicted alongside Ms Hasina, who was jailed for five years.

Her mum, Sheikh Rehana, was handed seven years by Rabiul Alam, the judge of Dhaka's Special Judge's Court. None of the three defendants were in the country when sentenced.

Ms Siddiq said in a statement: "The outcome of this kangaroo court is as predictable as it is unjustified.

"I hope this so-called 'verdict' will be treated with the contempt it deserves.