New Delhi: A Bangladesh court granted bail to Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Sunday (January 28) in an alleged case of labour law violation by his company, Grameen Telecom, until hearing in the case was complete, the Prothom Alo newspaper reported.
Three other employees of Grameen Telecom were also granted bail.
The four were first sentenced to six months in prison on January 1 but were immediately granted bail for 30 days to appeal their sentence, the Associated Press reported.
On Sunday, the court also accepted their petitions challenging the verdict against them.
Grameen Telecom is accused of not giving some employees permanent status despite them completing their apprentice period, not granting annual leave with pay to workers, not forming a welfare fund for employees and not distributing 5% of its dividends to its staff, the reports by Prothom Alo and AP said.
Yunus and the three other employees have denied any wrongdoing.
“As my lawyers have convincingly argued in court, this verdict against me is contrary to all legal precedent and logic,” the BBC quoted Yunus as saying in a statement after the January 1 verdict.
He continued: “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.”
Abdullah Al Mamun, Yunus’s lawyer, told Prothom Alo that the court on Sunday fixed the next date for hearing in the case to March 3.
Eighty-three-year-old Yunus, who won the Nobel Prize in 2006, is credited with lifting millions out of poverty through his microfinancing bank, the Grameen Bank.
According to AP, Yunus’s supporters say he is being targeted due to his poor relations with Bangladesh’s ‘authoritarian’ leader, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The BBC reports that while the reason for their apparent feud is unclear, his supporters have said Hasina’s government is trying to discredit him because he had considered starting a political outfit to rival her ruling Awami League.
Hasina’s government has denied that the case against Yunus is politically motivated. She was recently re-elected in an election that the opposition called a sham and boycotted.