DHAKA: Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus was convicted on Monday of violating Bangladesh´s labour laws in a case decried by his supporters as politically motivated.
Yunus, 83, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank but has earned the enmity of longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has accused him of “sucking blood” from the poor.
Hasina has made several scathing verbal attacks against the internationally respected 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was once seen as a political rival.
Yunus and three colleagues from Grameen Telecom, one of the firms he founded, were accused of violating labour laws when they failed to create a workers´ welfare fund in the company.
A labour court in the capital Dhaka convicted and sentenced them to “six months´ simple imprisonment”, lead prosecutor Khurshid Alam Khan told AFP, adding that all four were immediately granted bail pending appeals.
All four deny the charges. Dozens of people staged a small demonstration of support outside the court for Yunus, who left without speaking to media.
“This verdict is unprecedented,” Abdullah Al Mamun, a lawyer for Yunus, told AFP. “We did not get justice.” Yunus is facing more than 100 other charges over labour law violations and alleged graft.