Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus speaks to the media in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Sunday, March 3, 2024, after a court granted him bail in an embezzlement case. (AP Photo/Mahmud Hossain Opu)Image: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — A Bangladesh court on Sunday granted Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus bail in a $2.3 million embezzlement case.
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Yunus, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering work in using microcredit to help impoverished people, was sentenced to six months in prison in January on a separate charge of violating labor laws. He was granted bail in this case too and has filed an appeal.
Prosecutor Mir Ahmmad Ali Salam said the embezzlement case involved a workers' welfare fund owned by Grameen Telecom, which owns 34.2% of the country's largest mobile phone company, Grameenphone, a subsidiary of Norwegian telecommunications giant Telenor.
“The charges relate to embezzlement of over Taka 250 million and money laundering. The defendant gave the money to union leaders and not to the workers. In this way, they have deprived ordinary workers of their rightful income,” Salam said.
Yunus and seven other defendants appeared in court on Sunday, while six others were absent.
Defense lawyer Abdullah Al Mamun told the court that 83-year-old Yunus and the others were innocent.
Last year, more than 170 world leaders and Nobel laureates called on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to suspend Yunus' trial. His supporters say he was targeted because of his frosty relations with Hasina. The government has rejected the allegations.