US warns Grameen offices raids could hinder foreign investment in Bangladesh

By Faisal Mahmud

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AA) - The US Department of State condemned the raids on offices linked to Bangladesh's Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus saying they could hinder foreign investment in the South Asian nation.

In a statement on Tuesday, spokesman Matthew Miller expressed concern about the unusually fast-paced legal actions against Yunus, including the frequent involvement of the Anti-Corruption Commission in many cases.

He warned that harassment of such a prominent figure could “damage Bangladesh's reputation” and “hinder foreign investment.”

On Monday, a group of unidentified individuals reportedly occupied two of his offices in the capital Dhaka. An official from Yunus’s organization Grameen Bank told Anadolu that around 20 people stormed their offices in Mirpur, holding staff hostage for two hours.

Grameen’s legal advisor Abdullah Al Mamun reported filing a complaint with the local police station, but they refused to register it as a case or provide a filing number. “I am not sure whether they took the complaint seriously,” he said.

Secretary of the Public Security Division of Home Ministry Mostafizur Rahman, however, told Anadolu that they are aware of the incident and are “investigating it with due importance.”

This incident adds to Yunus's ongoing legal troubles, which his supporters claim are politically motivated harassment. The world-renowned economist who got the Nobel Prize in Peace for alleviating poverty in 2006, is currently battling over 150 cases against him.

Over the past two months, Yunus has faced a $5 million tax bill (by a court), a travel ban, and a suspended jail sentence, highlighting his complex legal situation.