Nobel laureate Yunus in dock

AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

DHAKA: Nobel peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus appeared in a Bangladesh court today in a defamation case dating back to 2007, posing further legal problems for the microfinance pioneer in his homeland.

Last week, the government ordered a probe into Yunus’s Grameen Bank, with which he shared the Nobel prize in 2006, in the latest sign of friction between him and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Hasina, who recently accused microfinance groups of ‘sucking blood from the poor,’ first clashed with Yunus in 2007 when he set up a political party.

In that year, he gave an interview to AFP in which he said Bangladesh’s politics was simply about the ‘power to make money,’ prompting a defamation complaint by a low-ranking official of a minor left-leaning party.

The case has lain dormant since 2007, but Yunus was today summoned to court in Memensingh district, about 100 km north of Dhaka, where he appeared for about 10 minutes.

“I believe that the courts are here to deliver justice, and look forward to this matter being resolved soon,” Yunus told AFP by email. The court has granted Yunus bail and allowed a nominee to appear at the next hearing, which has been set by the judge for February 20.

The original complaint was lodged in January 2007 by an official from the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal party which is allied to the prime minister’s ruling Awami League, prosecution lawyer Abul Kalam Mohammad Azad said.

“It has taken years to come to court because judicial enquiries take time in Bangladesh,” Azad said.

“Microcredit is one of the major achievements of Bangladesh... It is very unfortunate he is now being accused of these misdeeds,” Manzoor Hasan, a politics professor at the private BRAC university told AFP.

“This matter must not be politicised. Nobody should indulge in character assassinations. We need to come together and focus on the real issues facing Bangladesh — food price hikes, congestion, acute power crisis,” he added.

Local police said more than 500 people gathered at the Memensingh court building to catch a glimpse of Yunus, who is a hugely popular figure in rural Bangladesh.

The separate government probe into Grameen Bank was ordered after a Norwegian documentary claimed the organisation had misused Norwegian aid.

A Norwegian investigation cleared Yunus, but Hasina has since accused Yunus of pulling a “trick” to avoid tax. The probe into Grameen and the case against Yunus come as the microfinance industry is under fire in neighbouring India over accusations of profiteering through high interest rates and heavy-handed debt collection.