Govt won’t interfere in Yunus case, Hasan says after 12 US senators’ appeal

Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said on Tuesday that the government in no way would interfere in the court proceedings against Dr Muhammad Yunus.

He made the government's stance clear after 12 US senators wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, calling upon her to end the 'persistent harassment' of Dr Yunus.

Asked for his comment, Mr Mahmud said he gave his reaction as a joint secretary of the ruling Awami League --- not as foreign minister.

"Some aggrieved employees of his (Dr Yunus) company filed a case against him and the court has convicted him. The government has nothing to do with this."

The senators wrote a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, urging her "to end, what they said was, "the persistent harassment" of Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus.

They also urged her to end "the pattern of abusing the justice system to target critics of the government more broadly".

"Professor Yunus' positive efforts should not be undermined over the ongoing political vendettas, especially in a democratic nation of laws," the letter reads.

"For more than a decade, Professor Yunus has faced over 150 unsubstantiated cases brought against him in Bangladesh."

The letter's signatories include US Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and US Senators Todd Young, Tim Kaine, Dan Sullivan, Jeff Merkley, Jeanne Shaheen, Edward Markey, Sherrod Brown, Peter Welch, Sheldon Whitehouse, Ron Wyden and Cory A Booker.

The senators referred to the statement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and the Amnesty International, saying that they had noted irregularities in proceedings against Dr Yunus, including the most recent six-month prison sentence for allegedly violating the country's labour laws that is being appealed.

"Moreover, the repeated and sustained harassment of Yunus mirrors what many Bangladeshi civil-society members also face in an increasingly restrictive environment," reads the letter.

"The US values its longstanding relationship with Bangladesh, which includes close bilateral and multilateral coordination on numerous common interests."

Ending the harassment of Professor Yunus and others exercising their freedom of speech to criticise the government will help continue this important relationship," the senators said.

mirmostafiz@yahoo.com