Trial of British MP in Bangladesh 'unfair', say leading lawyers

The trial in Bangladesh of the UK's former City minister Tulip Siddiq has been "contrived and unfair", leading lawyers, including a former Conservative justice secretary, have told Bangladesh's ambassador before tomorrow's verdict.

- Daniel Boffey Chief reporter

Siddiq, who resigned from the government in January, is due to receive her verdict and sentence in absentia, with the prosecution seeking a life sentence, the maximum.

The Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate is the niece of Sheikh Hasina, the former prime minister of Bangladesh, who was given a death sentence last week over charges of crimes against humanity relating to last year’s crackdown on protests.

In a letter to Abida Islam, Bangladesh’s high commissioner in the UK, a group of high-profile lawyers including Robert Buckland KC, who was justice secretary under Boris Johnson, and the former Tory attorney general Dominic Grieve, suggest Siddiq has not enjoyed basic rights during her trial, including knowledge of the charges against her and access to legal representation.

The lawyers, who include Cherie Blair KC, Philippe Sands KC and Geoffrey Robertson KC, also claim a lawyer she instructed to represent her was put under house arrest and faced threats to his daughter.