Bangladesh court docket sentences Nobel laureate Yunus to six months in jail for violating labor legal guidelines
DHAKA, Bangladesh — A labor court docket in Bangladesh’s capital sentenced Monday Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to 6 months in jail for violating the nation’s labor legal guidelines.
Yunus, who pioneered utilizing microcredit to assist impoverished folks, was current in court docket and was granted bail. The court docket gave the protection 30 days to attraction.
Grameen Telecom, which he based as a non-profit, is on the heart of the trial.
Sheikh Merina Sultana, head of the Third Labor Court of Dhaka, mentioned in her verdict Yunus‘ company violated labor laws: 67 of Grameen Telecom employees were supposed to be made permanent, and the employees’ participation and welfare funds weren’t shaped. She additionally mentioned that following firm coverage, 5% of the corporate’s dividends had been presupposed to be distributed to employees.
Sultana discovered Yunus, as chairman of the corporate, and three different firm administrators responsible, sentencing every to 6 months in jail.
Grameen Telecom owns 34% of the nation’s largest cell phone firm, Grameenphone, a subsidiary of Norway’s telecom big Telenor.
The Nobel laureate can also be going through an array of different fees involving alleged corruption and fund embezzlement.
Yunus‘ supporters believe the charges were filed to harass him amid a wider complex political context and frosty relations with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh’s authorities has denied the allegations.
Monday’s verdict got here as Bangladesh is making ready for its subsequent normal election on Jan. 7, amid a boycott by the nation’s most important opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Hasnina’s arch enemy. The occasion mentioned they didn’t have any confidence within the premier’s administration to carry a free and truthful election.
In August, greater than 170 international leaders and Nobel laureates in an open letter urged Hasina to droop all authorized proceedings towards Yunus.
The leaders, together with former U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and greater than 100 Nobel laureates, mentioned within the letter that they had been deeply involved by latest threats to democracy and human rights in Bangladesh.
Hasina responded sharply and mentioned she would welcome worldwide consultants and attorneys to come back to Bangladesh to evaluate the authorized proceedings and look at paperwork involving the fees towards Yunus.
In 1983, Yunus based Grameen Bank, which provides small loans to entrepreneurs who wouldn’t usually qualify for financial institution loans. The financial institution’s success in lifting folks out of poverty led to related microfinancing efforts in lots of different international locations.
Hasina’s administration started a collection of investigations of Yunus after coming to energy in 2008. She turned enraged when Yunus introduced he would kind a political occasion in 2007 when a military-backed authorities ran the nation and he or she was in jail, though he didn’t observe by means of on the plan.
Yunus had earlier criticized politicians within the nation, saying they’re solely fascinated with cash. Hasina referred to as him a “bloodsucker” and accused him of utilizing drive and different means to get well loans from poor rural girls as head of Grameen Bank.
In 2011, Hasina’s administration started a overview of the financial institution’s actions. Yunus was fired as managing director for allegedly violating authorities retirement rules. He was placed on trial in 2013 on fees of receiving cash with out authorities permission, together with his Nobel Prize award and royalties from a e-book.
