DHAKA: Bangladesh anti-corruption officials told a court on Wednesday of alleged abuses of power by ousted ex-leader Sheikh Hasina and her family in cases involving her niece, British lawmaker Tulip Siddiq.

Three officials from the Anti-Corruption Commis­sion (ACC) read out testimonies in three separate cases, over an alleged land grab of lucrative plots in a suburb of the capital Dhaka.

Siddiq, who resigned as British anti-corruption minister in January after being named in probes in Bangladesh into graft accusations, has called the process a “persecution and a farce”, and is not in Bangladesh. ACC lawyer Khan Mohammad Mainul said Siddiq was “lying”.

“We have obtained all the necessary documents, including her correspondence in this matter,” he said.

“We have strong evidence against her.” The cases are in addition to three corruption cases that opened on Monday. Hasina, 77, is named in all.

Hasina’s rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of her political opponents. She fled Bangladesh by helicopter on Aug 5, 2024, after weeks of student-led protests against her autocratic rule.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2025