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.
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