Global leaders’ statements similar to interference: ACC lawyer

The Anti-Corruption Commission lawyer Khurshid Alam has invited the 160 world leaders to come to Bangladesh and observe the transparency of judicial proceedings of Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus.

“Come to Bangladesh and see how transparent the trial of Dr Yunus’ case is going on” the lawyer told this to media on the Supreme Court premise on Tuesday.

“World leaders are interfering in the judiciary without knowing and reviewing the laws and judiciary of Bangladesh. I don’t understand why they are too much fuss about Yunus’s case.”

Khurshid Alam said that the statements of the global leaders equivalent to interference in Bangladesh’s judicial system.

Around 160 global leaders, including more than 100 Nobel Laureates, in an open letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed their concern about the safety of Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus.

Addressed directly to the PM, the letter is signed by Nobel laureates, elected officials, business figures, and civil society leaders. The signatories applauded Bangladesh’s remarkable progress since its independence in 1971. However, their collective concern arose from the “perceived threats to democracy and human rights” that have recently emerged within the country.

On September 9, 2021, Labour Inspector (general) SM Arifuzzaman of the Inspection for Factories and Establishments Department filed a labour law violation case against four people, including Prof Muhammad Yunus, with the Third Labour Court of Dhaka.

According to the case documents, officials of the Inspection for Factories and Establishments Department on August 16, 2021, inspected the office of Grameen Telecom in the capital’s Mirpur and found several violations of labour laws.