Nobel laureate jailed for six months in Bangladesh; Allegedly politically motivated
Dhaka: The Bangladesh court sentenced Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus to six months in prison for violating the country’s labor laws.
Renowned economist Muhammad Yunus and three of his colleagues at Grameen Telecom, which he founded, failed to implement a welfare fund for their workers, the court found.
The court granted bail to the four pending appeal. Muhammad Yunus said that they have not done anything wrong and the case is politically motivated.
“The verdict against me is against legal process and logic. I call upon the people of Bangladesh to speak out against injustice and stand up for democracy and human rights of every citizen of the country,’ Yunus said after the verdict was announced.
Known as the poor man’s banker, 83-year-old Yunus is the pioneer of microfinance loans that help lift billions of people out of poverty.
In 2006, Prof. Yunus and his Grameen Bank won the Nobel Prize in Economics.
Prof. His lawyer, Abdullah Al Mamun, told the BBC that this was a move to undermine Yunus’s international recognition and that there were more than 100 cases against him for labor law violations and corruption allegations.
Earlier Prof. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had accused Yunus of being a bloodthirsty and the Grameen Bank was charging extortionate interest rates from the poor people.
Prof. 170 global personalities including former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson. In August, Sheikh Hasina had written to Hasina demanding an end to torture against Yunus.
Prof. Hasina welcomed international experts to look into legal proceedings against Yunus.
It is not clear what caused the friction between the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the Nobel laureate. The supporters of Yunus allege that the government’s political enmity is due to the fact that Yunus once tried to form a political party against Sheikh Hasina’s ruling party, the Awami League.
Content Highlight: Muhammad Yunus, Nobel laureate sentenced to jail in Bangladesh
#Nobel #laureate #jailed #months #Bangladesh #Allegedly #politically #motivated #DoolNews
2024-01-02 03:28:00
