Photo : Messenger
More than 241 global leaders, including over 125 Nobel Laureates, in an open letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, expressed their alarm over the “continuous judicial harassment and potential jailing” of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus. This type of statement is not new to us because, for the third time, they gave their speech against our judicial proceedings. It seems that they threatened our sovereignty and independence. Before that, when the war criminals were hanged, some of foreign leaders called the HPM of Bangladesh to stop the judicial proceedings against the war criminals.
On 1st January 2024, Professor Dr Yunus and three Grameen Telecom colleagues were convicted of labour law violations and sentenced to six months in jail. They were given bail while their appeals were considered. In their letter, the leaders noted with concern: “….the rushed legal process and lack of consistency about how Bangladesh’s laws are applied. The criminal verdict included time in prison for four individuals, including Professor Yunus…when it is clear that, at most, only a small civil fine against Grameen Telecom, a nonprofit organisation, was warranted under the relevant laws.”
After the verdict, human rights organisation Amnesty International condemned the conviction, stating: “Amnesty International believes that initiating criminal proceedings against Muhammad Yunus and his colleagues for issues that belong to the civil and administrative arena is a blatant abuse of labour laws and the justice system, and a form of political retaliation for his work and dissent.” In their letter, the leaders, including Barack Obama, 44th President of the US, expressed concern “….that the recent election in Bangladesh held on January 7, 2024, was tarnished by the suppression and imprisonment of opposition leaders, the media, and independent voices, which have been extensively documented by many human rights and other pro-democracy groups in Bangladesh and abroad.”
"Bangladeshis deserve a government that honours and supports rather than persecutes its most esteemed citizens,” said former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon after the verdict. “I call on the prime minister to stop this senseless campaign against Professor Muhammad Yunus now." Looking for a resolution, the leaders accepted an invitation made by Sheikh Hasina, who told a news conference at the end of August 2023 that the “signers should send experts, including lawyers, to go through all the documents of Professor Yunus and his cases to see if there is any wrongdoing or wrongful prosecution.”
“We accept your invitation,” the leaders wrote. “This examination should include not only the labour law case whose verdict was delivered on January 1, but also the investigation being conducted by the Anti-Corruption Commission.” Professor Yunus’ conviction is the culmination of years of persecution by the government. This is one of more than 150 cases that have been filed against him, one of the most egregious examples of judicial harassment in the country’s history. “A social activist and Nobel laureate,” Irene Khan warned, “who brought honour and pride to the country is being persecuted on frivolous grounds.”
“Muhammad Yunus’s case is emblematic of the beleaguered state of human rights in Bangladesh,” said Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard in September 2023. “The abuse of laws and misuse of the justice system to settle vendettas is inconsistent and incompatible with international human rights treaties.”
We know the success rate of Bangladeshis in any natural disaster. At floods and erosion, the rich and humanitarian people contribute to the people who are in danger. The government has also taken several initiatives to improve the situation of affected people. In those cases, the novel laureate didn’t play any role for the people of Bangladesh. He has no liability or responsibility for the mass people of our country. But he has a dream to become established in politics and wanted to form a political party during the political regime of the caretaker government of 1/11. Some of media houses instigated him and some write-ups published on the support of Dr. Yunus. But the people denied his political aspiration because the people know him very well. Those who are borrowers from Grameen Bank can’t trust him because no one had benefited from the bank. All are sharing their bad experiences with their continued movement with the bank.
The open letter issued by some foreign leaders and respected persons to the prime minister with an illegal and illogical demand to stop the verdict of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus in Bangladesh`s court as a threat to the rule of law. The rule of law is a compulsory element in a welfare state. Where respected leaders and renowned persons requested the state to ensure the rule of law, but in the case of Dr. Yunus, those people demanded that to stop the verdict of Dr. Yunus. How can they report this to the government of Bangladesh?
Bangladesh is an independent and sovereign state. The judiciary of this country is completely independent. All types of judicial proceedings are conducted following the existing laws of the country. So no one has any right to illegally interfere of the judicial proceedings of Bangladesh. The proposal is to stop the verdict against Yunus and obstructing the constitutional rights is not acceptable at all. Such an arbitrary demand is tantamount to contempt of court. Any person or organisation respecting the rule of law and human rights cannot raise a demand to block the way of getting justice for an aggrieved or oppressed person. The demand of foreign persons to stop the trial of any ongoing case is not only interference in the judiciary but also an attack on the sovereignty of an independent country.
The people affected by Dr. Yunus have filed cases to the courts seeking legal redress and the trial proceedings are going on through the legal procedure. As per the principle of the rule of law, everybody, irrespective of political or social identity is equal before the law. If anyone commits a crime, he must stand before the law. Criminal laws are equally applicable for everyone in the country. If anyone wins the Nobel Prize, he cannot go above the law.
The writer is Assistant Professor and Chairman, Department of Criminology and Police Science, University of Chittagong
Messenger/Fameema
