In 2006, Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Prize: photo: Reuters
Dhaka: The court of Bangladesh has sentenced Muhammad Yunus, the head of the Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Bank, to 6 months imprisonment for violating labor laws. According to the news agency Reuters, 83-year-old Muhammad Yunus and three officials of his Grameen Telecom company were found guilty of violating labor laws, but the court granted them bail upon their request, and there will be an appeal against the sentence.
Prosecutor Khurshid Alam Khan said that the court has granted bail and given a one-month period for appeal against the court’s decision.
Muhammad Yunus’s lawyer, Khwaja Tanveer, said that this case has been politically motivated in order to target Muhammad Yunus.
Human rights organizations have accused the government of targeting Sheikh Hasina Wajed, who is attempting to become the Prime Minister for the fourth time in the upcoming January 7 elections, while she is also accused of targeting political opponents.
Muhammad Yunus, a renowned economist, was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2006 for his initiative to provide $100 loans to millions of people in Bangladesh to help them escape poverty.