M.A Yousuf (Editor in Chief): Bangladesh government corrupted agency Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed a first Information report (FIR) alleging that the Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus was among a group of 13 people who had committed offences of “forgery,” “cheating”, “breach of trust” and “money laundering” under the Penal Code (1860) as well as offences of the money laundering prevention act (2012). The FIR has now been forwarded to a court under whose jurisdiction the criminal case lies. The ACC is conducting further investigation and is next due to report to the court on January 3rd, 2024.

In August, more than 170 global leaders and Nobel laureates in an open letter urged Bangladeshi controversial PM Sheikh Hasina to suspend legal proceedings against Prof. Yunus.

The leaders, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and more than 100 Nobel laureates, said in the letter that they were deeply concerned by recent threats to democracy and human rights in Bangladesh.

“We are alarmed that he has recently been targeted by what we believe to be continuous judicial harassment,” said the letter.

The ACC’s central allegation is that, “on the direction of Chairman Professor Muhammad Yunus” as much as Taka 26.22 crore was “illegally transferred” from the settlement account to the trade union account “without seeking the consent” of the employees. The claim here is that this Taka 26.22 crore should have gone to the individual workers, but that it was taken by the trade union leaders and its lawyers, with the complicity of Yunus and the other company directors.

In any democratic state with rule of law, the presence of a specialised anti-corruption body should mean an enhanced level of protection against corruption. This case is an example of how in Bangladesh, compliance with the law can sometimes be just as dangerous as not complying. Suprovat Sydney strongly opposes & condemns this entire fake & fabricated court case. They must stop hassling the people.  Sooner or later Bangladesh government will pay the price otherwise.