Nobel laureate sentenced to jail over labor law violation in Bangladesh
Yunus denies crime and will appeal verdict
DHAKA, Bangladesh — A labor court in Bangladesh’s capital Monday sentenced Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to six months in jail for violating the country’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 nonprofit organization, is at the center of the case.
Sheikh Merina Sultana, head of the Third Labor Court of Dhaka, said in her verdict that Yunus’s company violated 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 formed. She also said that, following company policy, 5 percent of Grameen’s dividends were supposed to be distributed to staff but was 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, or $260. Yunus said 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,” said attorney Abdullah Al Mamun.
But the prosecution was happy with what they 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 country’s largest mobile phone company, Grameenphone, a subsidiary of Norway’s telecom giant Telenor.
As Yunus is known to have close connections with political elites in the West, especially in the United States, many think the verdict could negatively impact Bangladesh’s relationship with the US.
But Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen on Monday said relations between Bangladesh and the United States 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’s supporters believe he’s being harassed because of frosty relations with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Bangladesh’s government has denied the allegation.
Monday’s verdict came as Bangladesh prepares for its general election on Jan. 7, amid a boycott by the country’s main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, Hasina’s arch-enemy. The party said it didn’t have any confidence the premier’s administration would hold a free and fair election.
In August, more than 170 global leaders and Nobel laureates, in an open letter, urged Hasina to suspend all legal proceedings against Yunus.
The leaders, including former president Obama, former UN secretary-general Ban Kimoon, 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 come to Bangladesh to assess the legal proceedings and examine documents involving the charges against Yunus.
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 countries.