A labor court in Bangladesh’s capital on Monday sentenced Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to six months in jail for contravening the nation’s labor laws.
Yunus, who pioneered the use of microcredit to help impoverished people, was present in court and was granted bail. The court gave Yunus 30 days to appeal the verdict and sentence.
Grameen Telecom, which Yunus founded as a non-profit organization, is at the center of the case.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Sheikh Merina Sultana, head of the Third Labor Court of Dhaka, said in her verdict that Yunus’ company contravened Bangladeshi labor laws. She said at least 67 Grameen Telecom workers were supposed to be made permanent employees, but were not, and a “welfare fund” to support the staff in cases of emergency or special needs was never set up.
She also said that, following company policy, 5 percent of Grameen’s dividends were supposed to be distributed to staff, but they were not.
Sultana found Yunus, as chairman of the company, and three other company directors guilty, sentencing each to six months in jail. Yunus was also fined 30,000 takas (US$273).
Yunus said that he would appeal.
“We are being punished for a crime we did not commit. It was my fate, the nation’s fate. We have accepted this verdict, but will appeal this verdict and continue fighting against this sentence,” the 83-year-old economist told reporters after the verdict was announced.
A defense lawyer criticized the ruling, saying it was unfair and against the law.
“We have been deprived of justice,” attorney Abdullah al-Mamun said.
However, the prosecution was happy with what it said was an expected verdict.
“We think business owners will now be more cautious about violating labor laws. No one is above the law,” prosecutor Khurshid Alam Khan said.
Grameen Telecom owns 34.2 percent of the nation’s largest mobile phone company, Grameenphone, a subsidiary of Norwegian telecom Telenor.
As Yunus is known to have close connections with political elites in the West, especially in the US, many think the verdict could negatively impact Dhaka’s relationship with Washington, but Bangladeshi Minister of Foreign Affairs Masud bin Momen on Monday said that relations between the two nations would likely not be affected by an issue involving a single individual.
The Nobel laureate faces an array of other charges involving alleged corruption and embezzlement.
Yunus’ supporters believe he is being harassed because of frosty relations with Bangldeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladeshi government has denied the allegation.
Monday’s verdict came as Bangladesh prepares for a general election on Sunday, amid a boycott by the nation’s main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former Bangladeshi prime minister Khaleda Zia.
The party said it did not have any confidence the administration would hold a free and fair election.
More than 170 global leaders and Nobel laureates in an open letter in August last year urged Hasina to suspend all legal proceedings against Yunus.
The leaders, including former US president Barack Obama, former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon and more than 100 Nobel laureates, said in the letter that they were deeply concerned by recent threats to democracy and human rights in Bangladesh.
Hasina responded sharply and said she would welcome international experts and lawyers to visit Bangladesh to assess the legal proceedings and examine documents involving the charges.
In 1983, Yunus founded Grameen Bank, which gives small loans to entrepreneurs who would not normally qualify for bank loans. The bank’s success in lifting people out of poverty led to similar microfinancing efforts in other nations.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday, with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state’s chief minister said. Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket final on Tuesday night. However, the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending.” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a