Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Mohammad Yunus of Bangladesh to court for defamation

Mohammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize and a pioneer of micro-finance, appeared Tuesday, January 18 Bangladeshi court for a libel case dating from 2007. Last week, the Bangladesh government has ordered an investigation into the Grameen Bank, a microcredit organization that he founded. A Norwegian documentary had in the past, highlighted poor financial practices.

The Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, has since accused Mr. Yunus to use a "trick" to avoid paying taxes, claiming also that the loans "were sucking the blood of the poor." Sheikh Hasina, accusing Mohammad Yunus of Grameen Bank to his personal fiefdom, was first opposed to the "Banker to the Poor" in 2007 when it created its own political party, which has fizzled.

That same year, Muhammad Yunus gave an interview to the year in which he declared that politics in Bangladesh was simply a case of "power to make money," which earned him a defamation complaint filed in January 2007 by a member of a small leftist party. The case had been dormant, but Mr.

Yunus has been summoned to court Tuesday, appearing for ten minutes. "The court has decided to bail. His lawyers argued that he was a major figure and therefore it was impossible for him to appear in court every day, "said one member, Shahid Shoqrana." The court has authorized a designated person appear on his behalf.

"The author of the complaint is a member of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal party, the party allied to the head of government, the Awami League, said the indictment, which pleaded in vain for the Prize nobel appear in person. "It took years to go to court because that court proceedings take time in Bangladesh," said counsel for the prosecution, Abul Azad KalamMohammad.
Posted by Manlio Gandolfi at 9:58 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)