The Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 on Sunday fixed June 12 for passing an order on framing charges against Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus and 13 others in a case filed under the Money Laundering Prevention Act on charges of embezzling about Tk 25.22 crore from the Grameen Telecom workers’ profit participation fund.
Judge Syed Arafat Hossain fixed the date after hearing on the charges brought by the Anti-Corruption Commission against Yunus and other 13 accused in the case.
Earlier in the day, the 14 accused, including Yunus, submitted a petition seeking discharge from the case. The court also fixed the same date for passing the order over their petition.
ACC public prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kazol placed his argument in favour of framing charges against the accused, while defence lawyers, including Abdullah-Al-Mamun, submitted argument in favour of discharging the accused in the case.
Yunus on the court premises told journalists that ‘Two Nobel Prizes were awarded—one in my name and another to Grameen Bank. There is no example in the history of the world where one Nobel laureate has filed a case against another Nobel laureate. But it happened to me; it is a part of the curse. We are carrying this curse,’ he said.
Yunus, also chairman of the Grameen Telecom, said, ‘This is the first time I have to stand in the dock in an iron cage before the court. It is a memorable event of my life that I am standing inside the iron cage in the courtroom. This is a part of the cursed life.’
The 13 other accused are Grameen Telecom managing director Nazmul Islam, directors Ashraful Hassan, Naznin Sultana, Parvin Mahmud, M Shahjahan, Nurjahan Begum, and SM Huzzatul Islam Latifee, Sramik-Karmachari Union President Kamruzzaman, general secretary Firoz Mahmud Hasan and representative Mainul Islam, Jatiya Workers Federation Office Secretary Kamrul Hasan, and lawyers Zafrul Hasan Sharif and Yusuf Ali.
On February 1, ACC submitted a charge sheet before the court against the 14 accused in the case.
Earlier on May 30, last year, ACC deputy director Gulshan Anwar Prodhan filed the case with its integrated district office in Dhaka-1.
The 83-year-old Yunus, who is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his pioneering microfinance bank, is now facing more than 170 cases over various charges.
On January 1, Yunus and three others were convicted for six months imprisonment by the Dhaka Labuor Court-3 in a case filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments for violating labour laws at Grameen Telecom.
Later, they challenged the verdict with the Appellate tribunal in Dhaka.
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