Obama & other global leaders rally for Muhammad Yunus, pen open letter to Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina
Story highlights
In the letter dated Tuesday (August 29th), more than 170 global leaders said: "One of the threats to human rights that concerns us in the present context is the case of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus. We are alarmed that he has recently been targeted by what we believe to be continuous judicial harassment"
More than 170 global leaders and Nobel laureates, including former US President Barack Obama and former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, have penned an open letter urging Bangladesh's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to suspend legal proceedings against Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work, pioneering microcredit to aid impoverished individuals, has allegedly faced "continuous judicial harassment" at the hands of Hasina's administration.
What the leaders said
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In the letter dated Tuesday (August 29th), the leaders said: "One of the threats to human rights that concerns us in the present context is the case of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus. We are alarmed that he has recently been targeted by what we believe to be continuous judicial harassment."
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They asserted their confidence that "any thorough review of the anti-corruption and labour law cases against him will result in his acquittal".
Global figures have also called for the upcoming elections in Bangladesh — expected in early January — to be credible. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party had earlier expressed concerns about potential election rigging and demanded that Hasina step down to allow a caretaker government to oversee the voting, a demand Hasina has rejected.
Bangladesh's government responds
Responding to the open letter, Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina said that she would welcome international experts and lawyers to assess the legal proceedings and examine documents related to the charges against Yunus.
She suggested that this would reveal additional information related to the case.
"If they send the experts and lawyers, many more things will get revealed, which remain untouched. Many such things will come out."
Charges against the Nobel laureate
Yunus founded Grameen Bank in 1983, an institution that provides small loans to entrepreneurs who typically do not qualify for traditional bank loans.
The bank's success in alleviating poverty as per news agency AP served as a model for micro-financing initiatives globally.
However, in 2008, after coming to power, Hasina's administration launched investigations into Yunus' activities.
As per AP, Hasina "became enraged" when in 2007, during a period of military-backed rule, Yunus announced plans to form a political party.
Hasina, who was in prison at the time, referred to Yunus as a "bloodsucker" and accused him of using force to recover loans.
Yunus faced multiple charges, including allegedly receiving money without government permission, violation of labour laws, and embezzlement of funds from Grameen Telecom, a company he created. Defence lawyers as per AP have described some of the cases as harassment and vowed to contest the allegations.
(With inputs from agencies)
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