Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday said the government is not harassing Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus for any political or other reasons but he is facing issues of tax evasion and cheating with the labourers through Labour law violations.
“Those who wrote a letter in favour of Prof Yunus might not know the facts. They may think that he is being harassed due to political or other reasons. We hope they will know it. We will provide if they want to know,” he told reporters at a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The foreign minister said these are the issues of the court and he does not want to talk about these issues.
“We respect him as a great Nobel Laureate as he brought honour for us,” he said, adding that it is the court's decision and the government has nothing to do with it.
On September 9, 2021, Labour Inspector (general) SM Arifuzzaman of the Inspection for Factories and Establishments Department filed a labour law violation case against four people, including Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, with the Third Labour Court of Dhaka.
On June 6 this year, the court framed charges against the accused -- including Prof Yunus -- in the case. The case trial began on August 22.
More than 160 global leaders, including over 100 Nobel laureates, wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, expressing their deep concern about the safety and wellbeing of Prof Muhammad Yunus, Bangladesh’s first and so far, only Nobel laureate.
Addressed directly to the PM, the letter is signed by Nobel laureates, elected officials, business figures, and civil society leaders.
"We respectfully ask that you immediately suspend the current judicial proceedings against Prof Yunus, followed by a review of the charges by a panel of impartial judges drawn from within your nation, with some role for internationally recognised legal experts. We are confident that any thorough review of the anti-corruption and labour law cases against him will result in his acquittal,” the letter addressed to PM reads.
