Verdict against Yunus won’t affect Bangladesh-US ties: Foreign Secretary

Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen has said the verdict announced against Nobel Laureate Dr Mohammad Yunus will not affect the relations between Bangladesh and the United States.

The foreign secretary came up with the remark while he was talking to journalists at his ministry office on Monday (January 1).

“A state-level relationship cannot be affected by the personal affairs of any individual. It is a legal issue and he has a scope for appeal. He also got bail. I don’t talk more about the sub-judicial matter,” he said.

A Dhaka court has sentenced the Nobel Laureate and three other top officials of Grameen Telecom to six months’ imprisonment in a labour law violation case.

Judge Sheikh Merina Sultana of Dhaka’s 3rd Labour Court handed down the verdict on Monday (January 1).
The court also fined the convicts Tk 5,000 each under a section in the case, in default, they will have to serve ten more days in jail.

In another section of the case, the convicts were fined Tk 25,000 each, in default, they will have to serve 15 more days in jail.

Three other convicts are managing director (MD) of Grameen Telecom Ashraful Hasan and directors Nurjahan Begum and Mohammad Shahjahan.