Stop weaponising labour law to harass Prof Yunus: Amnesty International

Authorities in Bangladesh must stop weaponising labour laws and immediately end their harassment and intimidation of the Nobel Peace Laureate Mohammad Yunus, Amnesty International said today.

In an article on its website, Amnesty said Yunus, who is the chairman of the board of Grameen Telecom, was accused of employment-related violations and faces a criminal case in Bangladesh under the Labour Act 2006.

The ongoing trial is one of more than 150 cases filed against the Nobel laureate since the ruling Awami League came into power in 2008, it said.

"Amnesty International believes that initiating criminal proceedings against Mohammad Yunus and his colleagues for issues that belong to the civil and administrative arena is a blatant abuse of labour laws and the justice system and a form of political retaliation for his work and dissent," the article said.

"Mohammad Yunus' case is emblematic of the beleaguered state of human rights in Bangladesh, where the authorities have eroded freedoms and bulldozed critics into submission. The abuse of laws and misuse of the justice system to settle vendettas is inconsistent and incompatible with international human rights treaties including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Bangladesh is a state party," Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, was quoted as saying.

"It is time for the Government to put an end to this travesty of justice."