Bangladesh decries 'gaps in information' in calls to halt court cases against Nobel laureate

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – An international call to halt dozens of court cases against a Bangladeshi Nobel laureate is “marked by obvious gaps of information,” the South Asian nation’s embassy in the Turkish capital Ankara said in a statement on Monday.

The embassy said such a call amounts “to an affront to Bangladesh’s independent judicial system.”

The embassy was reacting to a Aug. 28 letter signed by 186 global leaders, including 108 Nobel laureates, urging Bangladesh’s government to stop its “senseless campaign against one of its most accomplished and admired citizens,” economist and entrepreneur Muhammad Yunus.

“It comes as a surprise to the government that the signatories to the letter already reached their own conclusion about the merit of the sub-judice cases as well as the outcome of the judicial proceedings,” said the embassy.

Yunus, a 2006 Nobel laureate, is battling at least 168 cases, including alleged tax evasion and misappropriation of profits.

“The allegations of ‘persecution or harassment’ seem to follow a pattern that stems from a victim mentality using human rights and democracy as an expedient cover,” Bangladesh’s Foreign Ministry said last week.

In a news conference last week, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina invited those who wrote the government out of sympathy for Yunus to come to see the court proceedings in person.

Yunus, a microloan pioneer, is the first Bangladeshi to win the Nobel Peace Prize, along with Grameen Bank. His bank, a microfinance institute, provides small loans to poor and low-income people for business purposes.

He lost a legal battle after the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina removed him from the bank over retirement age regulations in 2011.


*SM Najmus Sakib contribued from Dhaka to this story