Political retaliation Says Amnesty

Staff Reporter :
Amnesty International has said the conviction of Nobel laureate Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus is a blatant abuse of labour laws and misuse of the justice system.

“Amnesty International believes that initiating criminal proceedings against Muhammad Yunus and his colleagues for issues that belong to the civil and administrative arena is a blatant abuse of labour laws and the justice system and a form of political retaliation for his work and dissent,” reads a statement issued by the organization’s South Asia regional office on Monday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“The conviction of Prof Yunus is emblematic of the beleaguered state of human rights in Bangladesh, where the authorities have eroded freedoms and bulldozed critics into submission,” it added.

“The unusual speed in which the trial against Muhammad Yunus was completed stands in stark contrast to the snail-paced progress in other labour rights-related court cases in Bangladesh,” Amnesty said.

The abuse of labour laws and misuse of the justice system to settle political vendettas is a violation of international human rights law, said the human rights organization.

A Dhaka court on Monday sentenced Muhammad Yunus, chairman of Grameen Telecom, and three others to six months in jail over labour law violations.

Judge of the Third Labour Court in Dhaka, Sheikh Merina Sultana, delivered the verdict after concluding the trial proceedings of the case, filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE).

It also granted bail to the four upon the submission of separate petitions. They now have one month to file an appeal with the High Court to contest the judgement.

The other accused in the case are- Grameen Telecom Managing Director Ashraful Hassan, Directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan.

In the 84-page judgement, the court said the accused have violated Sections 4, 8, 117 and 234 of the Labour Act, 2006 and the prosecution has been able to prove the charges against the accused beyond any doubt.

Under section 303(3) of the act, it sentenced all the four accused to 6 months imprisonment and fined Tk 5000, in default of which the accused have to serve 10 more days in jail.

Under Section 307 of the act the court fined Tk 25000 each of the accused, in default, they have to serve 15 days more in jail.