Twelve US Senators have written a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urging her to end what they said the persistent harassment of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus.
They called for ending the pattern of “abusing the justice system” to target critics of the government more broadly.
For more than a decade, Professor Yunus has faced more than 150 unsubstantiated cases brought against him in Bangladesh, the Senators said in the letter yesterday.
Those who signed the letter include US Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and US Senator Todd Young (R-IN), along with US Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Ed Markey (D-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ron Wyden (D-OR), and Cory Booker (D-NJ).
The Senators wrote that the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and human rights organisations such as Amnesty International have noted irregularities in proceedings against Yunus, including the most recent six-month prison sentence for allegedly violating the country’s labour laws.
These reputable organisations argue that the speed and repeated use of criminal proceedings are indicative of politically motivated judicial abuses, they said.
“Moreover, the repeated and sustained harassment of Yunus mirrors what many Bangladeshi civil society members also face in an increasingly restrictive environment,” they said.
Durbin led the effort in the US Congress to award Yunus the Congressional Gold Medal in 2013, recognising his pioneering contributions to the fight against global poverty.
The letter said the United States values its longstanding relationship with Bangladesh, which includes close bilateral and multilateral coordination on numerous common interests.
“Ending the harassment of Professor Yunus, and others exercising their freedom of speech to criticise the government, will help continue this important relationship.”
Durbin has continuously spoken out against other nation’s governments that restrict democracy and free speech.
Recently, he took to the Senate floor to urge the release of political prisoners from Russia, Belarus, Algeria, Cambodia, and Guatemala.
Daily Star
