report in The Daily Star, Sept 15, 2023
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen has said cases against Dr Muhammad Yunus had been filed by employees of his organisations, not by the government.
“One cannot be above the law just because if he is a Nobel Laureate,” he said this while responding to a question at a media briefing at the foreign ministry yesterday.
The foreign minister said since these cases were pending in court, the government had nothing to do with it.
He said the government believed in the freedom of the judiciary, which was why it never interfered in the affairs of the court.
The minister also noted that the statement by the foreign dignitaries demanding suspension of the legal proceedings was totally illogical as the demand was totally contradictory to the rule of law. “It is a case filed in the labour court.”
In this connection, he mentioned that a number of Nobel laureates faced imprisonment for wrongdoings, and he knew a Nobel laureate who had been stripped of his professorship at MIT in the US for his involvement in illegal activities.
“Dr Muhammad Yunus is a respected person of our country… he should not worry about the cases filed against him if he is innocent and did not do anything wrong” he noted.
“If he is honest and brave, he should face it.”
After the statement from eminent personalities from around the world, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina publicly called upon them to send experts or lawyers to check the case, since the government had nothing to do with the judiciary.
Replying to a question, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam, however, said the government had not received any response in this regard from them.
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/diplomacy/news/employees-not-govt-filed-cases-against-dr-yunus-momen-3419231
