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A beneficiary of expansive corruption waged by a repressive regime? Or an guiltless bystander caught successful governmental crossfire from a state 5 1000 miles away?
Those are the questions astatine the halfway of an bonzer statement that's been raging for months betwixt the Labour MP Tulip Siddiq and the authorities successful Bangladesh.
Key to knowing this tangled communicative is knowing some the caller past of Bangladesh and however Ms Siddiq's household is woven into it.
Politics successful the state was turned connected its caput past August aft weeks of deadly protests triggered the ousting of longstanding premier curate Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League regime.
From there, a impermanent authorities took complaint led by an interim person - oregon 'Chief Adviser' - the Nobel Prize-winning economist Professor Muhammad Yunus.
He pledged to statesman ineligible proceedings to analyse crimes and quality rights abuses allegedly committed nether the erstwhile authorities and retrieve wealthiness that had been reportedly taken retired of the country.
In March, my workfellow Cordelia Lynch reported connected torture chambers allegedly tally by the ousted government and spoke to the interim leader who was wide astir wherever the blasted lay.
"Everybody was progressive successful it all," helium said. "The full authorities was progressive successful it."
He vowed enactment against Sheikh Hasina and those adjacent to her.
Which is wherever Ms Siddiq enters the story.
As good arsenic being the niece of the erstwhile premier minister, she is besides the granddaughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman - the founding president of modern Bangladesh.
Tulip Siddiq's parent Sheikh Rehana has besides been intimately progressive successful Bangladeshi authorities and was reportedly by the broadside of her sister Sheikh Hasina erstwhile she fled Dhaka and resigned past August.
So these are not tangential oregon escaped links.
And they - to an grade - explicate wherefore the Bangladeshi authorities are going aft the Labour MP truthful vociferously.
In short, they spot her arsenic portion of an constitution that they judge pilfered and abused Bangladesh for 2 decades.
So is this governmental guilt by relation - successful different words, a "vendetta" arsenic Tulip Siddiq puts it - oregon is determination substance to immoderate of the allegations?
Some of the claims surely agelong believability and look precise governmental successful nature.
For instance, stories astir her benefitting from billions of pounds siphoned disconnected from a Russian atomic woody look to person emanated from a dubious-looking American website which besides utilized an AI-generated representation of Ms Siddiq to travel their 'reporting'.
The claims dispersed aft a governmental hostile of Sheikh Hasina successful Bangladesh filed a tribunal assertion disconnected the backmost of them - allowing mainstream UK quality outlets to safely study connected the story.
Other accusations astir the allocation of onshore are perchance much plausible, but arsenic yet nary hard grounds has emerged to backmost up the claims.
Read more:
What allegations are Tulip Siddiq facing?
'My lawyers are acceptable for questions'
There are immoderate parts of this communicative that look trickier for Ms Siddiq though.
Property documentation does amusement links betwixt her and associates of the Awami League.
The Bangladeshi authorities reason this means the Labour MP whitethorn person - adjacent unknowingly - benefitted from wealthiness corruptly taken retired of the state and utilized to acquisition flats and houses successful the UK.
Ms Siddiq says this has been looked astatine by the Number 10 morals advisor and recovered to beryllium successful order.
Briefing from sources adjacent to the MP besides suggests a defence that these spot links were calved retired of regular household relationships alternatively than thing much governmental oregon fiscal successful nature.
But a photograph of Ms Siddiq successful the Kremlin with her aunt successful 2013 arsenic good arsenic the information that she thanked Awami League supporters aft her 2015 predetermination suggests a much governmental context.
That said, disentangling authorities and household erstwhile you are descended from one-time governmental royalty and lasting arsenic an MP successful a metropolis with a ample Asian assemblage whitethorn beryllium easier said than done.
The Number 10 probe did suggest she should person been much mindful of the imaginable reputational harm done by these connections.
So this is simply a saga shaped much by Bangladeshi authorities than British politics.
A state getting to grips with its past and preparing for the future, but producing broadside effects successful the process that are reaching these shores.
English (US) ·