Dr. Md. Yunus sentenced 6 months imprisonment for violation of labor laws

Nobel laureate economist in the case of violation of labor laws, the court sentenced four accused including Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus to 6 months imprisonment. Besides, each has been fined 30 thousand taka.

Dhaka Labor Court judge Sheikh Marina Sultana announced the judgement on Monday (January 1) afternoon.

The others who have been sentenced are - MD of Grameen Telecom. Ashraful Hasan, Director Nurjahan Begum and Md. Shah Jahan.

In the judgment, the court ordered the workers to be employed within 30 days, the creation of a welfare fund and 5 percent dividend to the workers. The court granted one month bail to all the four persons on a bond of Tk 5,000 under the conditions of appeal.

Dr. The defendants including Yunus were sentenced to 10 days in prison under section 303 (e) of the Labor Act with a maximum of 6 months' imprisonment without work and a fine of 5 thousand taka. On the other hand, under section 307, the court sentenced him to 15 days imprisonment without paying a fine of 25 thousand taka.

Dr. Md. Yunus appeared in court at noon to hear the judgement. The judge started reading the verdict around 2:30 pm. The court read out the summary of the 84-page verdict. In the judgment, the court said, as a Nobel laureate, Yunus was not tried, he was treated for violating the labor law.

Observing the verdict, the court said that the lawyers for the accused have presented a complimentary statement about the accused number one. He has been called a Nobel-winning international figure fighting poverty. But Nobel laureate Yunus is not being tried in this court, he is being tried as the chairman of Grameen Telecom. Meanwhile, the court said, Dr. Allegations of violation of labor laws against four persons including Yunus have been proved beyond doubt.

Meanwhile, security has been strengthened in the Labor Court and its surroundings based on the announcement of Yunus' verdict. A large number of police were deployed. Representatives of the country and international media gathered there an hour before the verdict was announced to collect news.