Professor Muhammad Yunus, the 83-year-old recipient of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and a pioneer of microfinance, is one of the great moral leaders and social innovators of our era. His work has materially benefited millions of Bangladeshis and others around the world, and he has inspired a generation of young people to pursue the social business model he has developed and other forms of advancing the common good.
His work and his example of selfless service to humanity should be lauded and embraced by people, organizations, and governments. Unfortunately, the Bangladeshi government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, has been engaged in sustained persecution of Professor Yunus since 2010. This outrageous campaign has culminated in an unjust verdict against Professor Yunus and three other board members of Grameen Telecom, a nonprofit organization he established. The verdict was announced on January 1, 2024, in Dhaka, the nation’s capital. The jail sentence was based on convictions passed down by a corrupt and biased legal system – in contravention of both the rule of law and the defendants’ human rights.
On January 1, 2024, Professor Yunus and three colleagues were convicted of labor law violations and sentenced to six-months in jail and given one month bail to allow for appeals, following allegations of breaches of the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006 by Grameen Telecom relating to the classification of employees, annual leave entitlement, and employee profit-sharing.
Irene Khan, former chief of Amnesty International now working as a United Nations special rapporteur for freedom of expression and opinion, who was present at Monday’s verdict, said the conviction was “a travesty of justice… A social activist and Nobel laureate who brought honour and pride to the country is being persecuted on frivolous grounds,” she said.
“As my lawyers have convincingly argued in court, this verdict against me is contrary to all legal precedent and logic,” Professor Yunus said in a statement released after the verdict.
“I call for the Bangladeshi people to speak in one voice against injustice and in favour of democracy and human rights for each and every one of our citizens.”
Discussing the verdict, one of his lawyers, Abdullah Al Mamun, said, “It was an unprecedent judgement. No due legal process was followed in the case and it was rushed through.”
Mr. Mamun added, “The whole idea is to damage his international reputation. We are appealing against this verdict.”
In August 2023, 189 global leaders including 108 Nobel laureates objected to his unjust treatment in an open letter to the Prime Minister. Among the signers were Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States, and former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Their letter began, “We write to you as Nobel Prize laureates, elected officials, and business and civil society leaders, and as friends of Bangladesh. We admire how your nation has made laudable progress since its independence in 1971.
“However, we are deeply concerned by the threats to democracy and human rights that we have observed in Bangladesh recently,” the letter continued. “We believe that it is of the utmost importance that the upcoming national election be free and fair, and that the administration of the election be acceptable to all major parties in the country. The previous two national elections lacked legitimacy.”
“One of the threats to human rights that concerns us in the present context is the case of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. We are alarmed that he has recently been targeted by what we believe to be continuous judicial harassment. This letter attempts to build upon an earlier appeal to you by 40 global leaders who were concerned about his safety and freedom.”
The leaders are similarly outraged by Professor Yunus’ conviction, and will be making their voices heard about it in the days ahead.
Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, one of the 189 signatories, said, “A leader like Muhammad Yunus should be celebrated and free to contribute to improving the lives of people and the planet. The last place he should be is in prison. I call for an immediate reversal of this unjust verdict.”
The international human rights community has also weighed in on this matter. In September 2023 Amnesty International Secretary-General Agnès Callamard wrote this in a widely circulated statement: “Muhammad Yunus’s case is emblematic of the beleaguered state of human rights in Bangladesh…. The abuse of laws and misuse of the justice system to settle vendettas is inconsistent and incompatible with international human rights treaties…. It is time for the Government to put an end to this travesty of justice.”
An international law firm undertook a high-level review of the case that eventually led to Professor Yunus’ prison sentence. On the basis of that analysis, the Protect Yunus Campaign has concluded that Professor Yunus is facing up to six months in prison for a crime that he not only did not commit, but that legally does not exist.
The Protect Yunus Campaign, a network of people and organizations that has been established to ensure that Professor Yunus is safe and able to pursue his noble work, calls on the government of Bangladesh to immediately reverse this unjust verdict. This case—one of 199 that have been filed against him in one of the most egregious cases of judicial harassment in the country’s history—should, at worst, have led to a US$227 fine against Grameen Telecom, where Professor Yunus serves as non-executive chairman, an unsalaried position.
Instead, not only were the allegations entirely without merit, but the legal process that was followed was wrong in law. Professor Yunus was pursued criminally alongside his fellow defendants, when the Bangladesh Labor Act of 2006 only creates civil liability for alleged breaches of it. The route the case took, from the initial investigation to its subsequent passage through various layers of the Bangladeshi court system, has been inappropriate, and is clear evidence of the Bangladeshi authorities and judiciary’s sanctioning of the persecution of Professor Yunus. Supporters of Professor Yunus have seen judges who have initially challenged the prosecution fall in line with the state’s narrative. A miscarriage of justice has clearly occurred. (See the article “A Travesty of Justice, Guaranteed” for more background on the baseless nature of this case.)
Professor Yunus, the founder of the Grameen Bank and numerous other Social Business enterprises, lives a modest lifestyle in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He serves most of his companies as Chairman of the board without any financial compensation. As a matter of principle, he owns no property, assets, or shares in any company. Most of the money that he has earned through giving speeches and the sales of his books has been transferred to a charitable trust formed under Bangladeshi law. He is one of only seven people in history to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Congressional Gold Medal, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
The Protect Yunus Campaign calls on the Bangladeshi government to immediately cease all forms of harassment against Professor Yunus, including initiating and supporting frivolous lawsuits against him, accusing him of working against the interests of the nation he has served since its independence in 1971, smearing his name by making baseless claims about him, and conducting repeated audits of his personal finances that have turned up no improprieties. All of the other cases pending against him, including one by the so-called Anti-Corruption Commission, should either be dismissed or put on hold pending reviews by independent legal experts with the participation of internationally reputed lawyers.
During any time Professor Yunus and his colleagues spend in prison, they should be treated humanely with full access to their physicians, lawyers, and family.
Furthermore, the Bangladesh government should immediately cease all forms of its ongoing assaults on the country’s democracy, on human rights, and on freedom of the press.
Those wishing to learn more about the persecution of Professor Yunus should visit the campaign’s website at https://protectyunus.wordpress.com, which includes a call to action outlining what concerned citizens can do. A detailed history of his persecution can be found here: https://protectyunus.wpcomstaging.com/background/
For more information contact: Sam Daley-Harris at sam@civiccourage.org.
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