‘Vendetta’ against Yunus to affect Bangladesh-USA ties: US senator
He said this during a meeting with Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Muhammad Imran while discussing issues of mutual interest on 13 March.
US Senator Dick Durbin said a failure to end "the vendetta" against Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus will "negatively impact" the relationship between Bangladesh and the USA.
He said this during a meeting with Bangladesh Ambassador to the US Muhammad Imran while discussing issues of mutual interest on 13 March.
"In my meeting with Ambassador Imran, I called for an end to the harassment of Prof Yunus," he later wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
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He also said, "The US values its relationship with Bangladesh, and I appreciate its help to Rohingya refugees."
A post in the website of Dick Durbin, US senate majority whip, published on 13 March, reads that for more than a decade, Dr Yunus has faced more than 100 "unsubstantiated" cases brought against him in Bangladesh.
"The harassment campaign against Professor Yunus has been denounced by more than 100 Nobel Prize winners, including former President Obama," it reads.
Durbin led the effort in the United States Congress to award Dr Yunus the Congressional Gold Medal in 2013, recognising his pioneering contributions in the fight against global poverty.
Earlier, in January, US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States is "closely following" the legal proceedings involving Muhammad Yunus.
On 1 January 2024, Dhaka Labour Court-3 sentenced Grameen Telecom Chairman Dr Yunus and three of its senior officials to six months in jail and fined Tk30,000 each, in the case filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments.
The charges include failing to provide a 5% dividend to the Grameen Telecom workers, not regularising 101 staffers, and not compensating workers for working on public holidays.
