RAB's visit to Mir Ahmad bin Quasem's home linked to Tulip's 2017 questioning: The Times

Tulip Siddiq, the UK's anti-corruption minister, has been accused of using political influence in Bangladesh, allegedly leading to the terrorisation of a dissident lawyer's family by the country's elite force, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

The accusations date back to 2017 when Tulip, 42, was asked by journalists in London about Mir Ahmad bin Quasem, a British-trained lawyer who had been detained in 2016 by the brutal regime of her aunt, Sheikh Hasina.

The RAB, which has been accused of extra-judicial killings and torture, subsequently visited Quasem's home in Dhaka, reports The Times.

Michael Polak, a British barrister representing Quasem, said, "I could not say Tulip ordered them [the RAB] to harass his family. What we're saying is it looks like she tells whoever in Dhaka what has happened and as a result the law enforcement are sent around to harass his family."

There is no suggestion that Tulip was aware that RAB action would be taken against the lawyer's family.

The incident began when journalists from Channel 4 News asked Tulip about Quasem's detention during a 2017 rally in London in support of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was imprisoned in Iran. 

Before the footage aired, the RAB confronted Quasem's mother, sister, wife, and their two young daughters at their home. Polak said that the RAB told the family, "you are talking to people" and "defaming Bangladesh internationally."

The day after the broadcast, 20 heavily armed officers returned, with the commander threatening: "This time we are going and leaving you. But we will make sure if there is any such news come next time we will not be good like this time."

Polak said, "This was a clear threat not to allow this to happen again, or else."

Quasem, who was part of the legal team for his father, an Islamist party leader, was detained without trial in 2016 and released after Sheikh Hasina was deposed as prime minister in August 2024.

Following the incident with the journalists, Tulip filed a police complaint, alleging that she was a victim of "racially aggravated assault". A Scotland Yard spokesperson said on Wednesday that its investigation was closed after "exhausting lines of inquiry."

Tulip referred herself to the prime minister's standards adviser after newspapers showed she was given a £700,000 London flat by a supporter of her aunt's Awami League and her sister received a £650,000 property from one of Hasina's advisers.

A spokesman for the minister said it was "categorically wrong" to suggest the properties were linked to her support for the Awami League.

Supporters of the Awami League in the UK have repeatedly campaigned for Tulip at elections.