Why Sentencing of Bangladeshi Nobel Laureate Mohammad Yunus Has Caused an Uproar

He was convicted of violating Bangladesh's labour laws and sentenced to 6 months in jail.

On 1 January, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sentenced to six months in jail for violating Bangladesh's labour laws.

(Photo: Twitter/ @Yunus_Centre)

On Monday, 1 January, Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was sentenced to six months in jail for violating Bangladesh's labour laws.

His supporters have decried the move as being "politically motivated." A labour court in Dhaka convicted and sentenced Yunus and three of his colleagues from Grameen Telecom – one of the companies founded by him in 1996 – to "six months' simple imprisonment," lead prosecutor Khurshid Alam Khan told AFP, adding that all four were immediately granted bail pending appeals.

What are the charges against Yunus? Why has his sentencing triggered an uproar? The Quint explains.

What Are the Charges Against Yunus?

Yunus and three of his colleagues from Grameen Telecom have been accused of violating labour laws by failing to create a workers' welfare fund in the company.

Sheikh Merina Sultana, head of Dhaka's third labour court, said that 67 Grameen Telecom employees were supposed to have been made permanent but they were not, and that the employees' participation and welfare funds had not been formed by the company.

She also said that following company policy, 5 percent of the company's dividends were supposed to be distributed to staff, but that was not done either.

The verdict against Yunus comes just days ahead of the Bangladesh polls scheduled to be held on 7 January. He is also facing more than 100 other charges over labour law violations and alleged corruption.

In 2015, Yunus was summoned by Bangladesh's revenue authorities over non-payment of taxes amounting to $1.51 million. In 2013, he was put on trial for allegedly receiving money without government permission; this included his Nobel Prize award and royalties received from a book.

In 2011, Yunus was terminated as the managing director of Grameen Bank for allegedly violating government retirement regulations.

'A Travesty of Justice' 

"This verdict is unprecedented," Abdullah Al Mamun, one of Yunus' lawyers, told AFP. "We did not get justice."

Another one of his lawyers, Khaja Tanvir, told AFP that the case was "meritless, false and ill-motivated." "The sole aim of the case is to harass and humiliate him in front of the world," he said.

Supporters of Yunus, rights groups, and activists have termed the verdict "politically motivated."

They pointed out that there was an "unusual rush" to convict the renowned economist because he is perceived by the ruling Awami League Party of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as a "political rival."

Irene Khan, a former Amnesty chief who is now working as a UN special rapporteur, told AFP that Yunus' conviction was "a travesty of justice."

"A social activist and Nobel laureate who brought honour and pride to the country is being persecuted on frivolous grounds," she added.

In August last year, 160 personalities, including former US president Barack Obama and former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, published a joint letter denouncing "continuous judicial harassment" of Yunus.

The signatories, including more than 100 of his fellow Nobel laureates, said they feared for "his safety and freedom."

Commenting on the alleged targeting of Yunus, Mahfuz Anam, the editor in chief of The Daily Star, wrote:

"For the last 15 years and more, Prof Yunus has been accused, judged and found guilty by the highest echelon of Bangladesh's power structure. First, he was accused of being the 'bloodsucker of the poor'. Then when the World Bank suspended the loan for the Padma bridge, he was identified as the main culprit who personally caused it to happen. Then he was repeatedly called a tax evader for not paying taxes on the fees he receives abroad for his speeches which he brings home under a government scheme that is tax exempt. For the above accusations never an iota of proof was provided. Yet, the unrelenting vilification continued over the years."

He went on to add that Yunus is the only other Nobel laureate punished after winning the prize. The other is Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi, "whose conviction was purely political and the consequence of a military takeover." There are a host of Nobel laureates who won this prestigious award while they were in prison. "But imprisoning a Nobel laureate is an occurrence rarer than rare," he added.

Yunus & Sheikh Hasina's Contentious Relationship

Yunus and the country's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina share a contentious relationship. The PM has frequently vilified the Nobel laureate. She has accused Yunus of "sucking blood" from poor people.

Last year, at the launch of the Padma Bridge, she went on say that "Yunus should be dunked twice in its waters and that the dunkers must take care that he doesn't die."

When the World Bank blocked its financing from the Padma Bridge project over corruption kickbacks, Hasina was convinced that "Yunus was behind it."

"He blocked the funds for Padma bridge merely for the post of MD. He should be plunged into the Padma River twice. He should be just plunged in a bit and pulled out so he doesn't die, and then pulled up onto the bridge. That, perhaps, will teach him a lesson."

In 2011, Yunus was removed at the MD of Grameen Bank after "allegations of irregularities" arose in its operations.

According to The Guardian, soon after winning the Nobel Prize in 2006, Yunus came up with the idea of floating his own political party. This, however, did not go down well with Sheikh Hasina, who was in jail at the time under charges of extortion.

In the following months, Yunus abandoned his plans, saying there wasn't enough support for a new political movement. Once Hasina returned to power in 2009, her government initiated a host of probes into Yunus' activities.

The prime minister accused him of using force and other means to recover loans from poor rural women as the head of Grameen Bank.