Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus convicted in Bangladesh labour law case

Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus is reported to have been convicted in a Bangladesh labour law case on Monday.

The development comes on Monday as Dhaka’s labour court Judge Sheikh Merina Sultana announced the verdict.

As reported, Grameen Telecom Chairman and Nobel Laureate Dr Yunus and three others have been sentenced to six months imprisonment and fined Tk25,000 each in a case filed on charges of violating labour law.

The court also said failure to pay the fine would lead to 15 days in jail.

The court also granted Dr Yunus bail, giving him one month to file an appeal against the verdict of the court.

Yunus, 83, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank, however, he earned the enmity of longtime Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has accused him of “sucking blood” from the poor.

Economist Dr Yunus and his three colleagues from Grameen Telecom, one of the firms he founded, are accused of violating labour laws when they failed to create a workers’ welfare fund in the company.

However, all four deny the charges.