Former Labour Minister Tulip Siddiq faces an Interpol Red Notice for her arrest and extradition if she fails to appear a court hearing in Bangladesh this month over corruption charges, reports The Daily Mail.
An arrest warrant was issued for the Hampstead and Highgate MP in Dhaka on Sunday and she has been given until April 27th to face court and seek bail.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) told the media it will request assistance from Interpol if she does not appear.
The former City Minister is accused of pressuring her aunt and fascist Sheikh Hasina to allocate three plots of land for the MP’s mother, elder brother and younger sister, all of whom are based in the UK.
The three plots of land were in an exclusive residential development in the north-west of the capital called Purbachal New Town Project.
A court issued an arrest warrant against Tulip after the ACC submitted a criminal charge sheet against the Labour MP last week.
Bangladeshi authorities have threatened her with an Interpol Red Notice, a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and arrest a person pending extradition, if she fails to attend a court hearing in Dhaka.
‘Now, if the accused Tulip does not turn up and surrender before the court, ACC will follow the global practice of taking assistance from Interpol through Bangladesh Police and Ministry of Home,’ a senior ACC official said.
On Monday, Judge Mohamed Jakir Hossain, sitting at the Senior Special Judges' Court in Dhaka accepted the charge sheet against Tulip, and issued the arrest warrant against her, as she was deemed a fugitive from the court.
If she does not appear in court on or before April 27th, a trial can start in absentia.
At the same hearing, the court issued arrest warrants against Ms Siddiq's mother, Rehana, 69, her elder brother Radwan, 44, and younger sister, Azmina, 34, on charges of acquiring plots of land illegally.
Possibility of extradition
‘Britain has been a very respected member of Interpol since 1928. Because of non-appearance, the accused would be treated as [a] criminal absconder. Bangladesh, also a member of Interpol, will ask to issue a red alert.
‘The responsibility of the host country of the criminal absconder is to make sure that the accused is arrested and extradited following standard legal procedures.
The UK lists Bangladesh as a 2B extradition country which means ministers and judges must be presented with clear evidence before a decision is taken.
Bd-Pratidin English/ AM
