A Bangladesh court sentenced this Monday, January 1, the Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, known as 'the banker of the poor', and three other people to six months in prison for multiple violations of labor law. The sentence generated international criticism against the Bangladeshi Government for alleged judicial persecution against the winner.
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Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus was accused in September 2021 of failing to establish the Workers' Contribution Fund and the Welfare Fund in his company, in addition to not sharing with his employees the benefits to which they were entitled.
Yunus, 83, is credited with lifting millions of people out of poverty thanks to his pioneering microcredit banks, but Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina accuses him of “sucking the blood” of the poor.
This Monday, January 1, a Bangladesh court sentenced Yunus and three others to six months in prison for multiple violations of labor law.
A Dhaka labor court issued a verdict this Monday, January 1, against Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and three other people, which, however, does not imply their immediate entry into prison, since They were granted one month's bail pending an appeal to a higher court.said prosecutor Khursid Alam.
“We are being punished for the crime we did not commit,” Yunus told the media in his first reaction upon leaving the court complex.
His lawyer, Abdullah Al Mamun, was equally “furious” with the verdict and assured that they would appeal.
“The State could not prove anything. We present 109 contradictions. If there is a contradiction, even a murder accused is released,” said Mamun, flanked by Yunus.
The UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, Irene Khan, who was present at the trial, called the verdict a “travesty of justice”.
“As a citizen of Bangladesh, on the first day of 2024, I am shocked and terrified to see what is happening with the rule of law in this country,” Khan told the media.
“The Labor Court has been used as a weapon against a Nobel Peace Prize winner while labor laws are violated in the most severe way every day, in every factory and even in the streets of violence, and the Government does nothing,” he added.
Yunus was accused of not establishing the Workers' Contribution Fund and the Welfare Fund in his company and not sharing with his employees the benefits to which they were entitled. Other charges include problems proving the regular hiring of 100 workers.
Yunus, known as 'the banker of the poor', was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. for having founded the Grameen Bank to combat poverty in Bangladesh by developing the concept of microcredit, in which loans are granted to low-income people who would normally be rejected in the financial system.
However, it has had a tense relationship with the Bangladeshi authorities since Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina came to power. In 2010, a documentary surfaced alleging illegal fund transfers between the two Grameen Group entities.
In recent years, Hasina also criticized Yunus for allegedly influencing the World Bank to cancel financing for the construction of a megaproject, an accusation he denied.
Yunus has faced more than 170 cases alleging corruption, money laundering, tax evasion and labor law violations.
In an open letter sent to Hasina on August 28, 176 world leaders, including former US President Barack Obama, former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and more than 100 Nobel laureates, expressed concern about the “continuing judicial proceedings and harassment” against Yunus.
The verdict against the Nobel Peace Prize winner occurs just days before the general elections in Bangladesh, which will take place on January 7, and have been boycotted by the opposition.
With EFE
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