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SecondCommonwealth leader Muhammad Yunus has been acquitted in a graft case brought by the National Anti-Corruption Commission, just days after he swore in an interim government. Sheikh Hasina steps down.
A special court in Dhaka acquitted the Nobel laureate in economics and 13 others. Daily Star Reported On Sunday, an official from the Anti-Corruption Commission said Yunus risks life in prison if he is found guilty of money laundering in the case.
A day before Yunus was sworn in as chief adviser to an interim government with the powers of prime minister, he was sentenced to six months in prison for a labor law violation but was later acquitted. Human rights lawyers say both cases are politically motivated.
Read more: From ‘Banker of the Poor’ to ‘Vampire’: The Tragic Story of Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus
Yunus’ lawyer, Abdullah Mamoun, did not respond to calls from Bloomberg News.
It was a swift reversal of fortune for Yunus, 84, whose supporters say the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina He is the driving force behind the legal pressure. He is often portrayed as an opponent of Hasina, who has accused Yunus of “sucking the blood of the poor”. Yunus has called her fall the country’s “second liberation”.
Last week, 76-year-old Hasina Student-led uprisingThe protesters then turned their attention to her supporters in the judiciary and the central bank. Protesters demanded the resignation of all judges, Chief Justice Obaidul Hassan and Bangladesh Bank Governor Abdur Rouf Talukder.
Yunus’s interim government needs to boost the economy, which is heavily dependent on its huge garment exports, under a $4.7 billion IMF program. Foreign exchange reserves need to stabilize, having fallen to $20.5 billion last month from a high of $48 billion three years ago.
Read more: What you need to know about Muhammad Yunus and Bangladesh’s uncertain future
A pioneer of microfinance, Yunus is untested as a political manager, raising uncertainty about how he will rebuild the country of more than 170 million people. In his first days in his new post, he has called for calm and warned against attacks on minorities in the majority-Muslim country.
Yunus and the advisory board discussed attacks on religious minorities over the weekend and worked with representatives of those groups to “find solutions to such heinous attacks.” The talks came as Hindu minorities held a third day of rallies across the country on Sunday demanding protection and justice.
Members of minority communities have faced at least 205 attacks in 52 districts since Hasina stepped down, according to data compiled by Bangladesh’s Hindu, Buddhist and Christian Unity Council.
The police announced the end of the strike on Sunday after Interior Minister Sakhawat Hussain gave officers a stark choice: return to work by Thursday or lose their jobs.
Human Rights Watch said minorities, especially Hindus, were in extreme danger and it was vital to restore public order as soon as possible.
“Under Hasina’s government, police have been targeted for reprisals for years of abuses, including recent student protests, and in many places there is no police presence to ensure their safety,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
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