CT Online Desk
A Dhaka court has sentenced Grameen Telecom Chairman Muhammad Yunus and three other executives of the company to six months in jail over labour law violations. Judge Sheikh Marina Sultana of the Dhaka Third Labour Court delivered the verdict in the case on Monday. The three other suspects in the case are Grameen Telecom Managing Director Ashraful Hasan and directors Nurjahan Begum and Md Shahjahan. The court sentenced them to six months in jail and fined them Tk 5,000 under Section 303 (3) of the Labour Act. A failure to pay the fine will be punished with another 10 days in prison. They were also fined an additional Tk 25,000 under Section 307 of the same law. A failure to pay this fine will result in another 15 days in jail. On Sept 9, 2021, Yunus and three others were named in a case filed against Grameen Communications with a labour court by Labour Inspector Arifuzzaman of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments. They were accused of failing to provide employees with appointment letters, get work schedules approved by the authorities, and submit annual and half-yearly returns. In the 84-page verdict, the judge found the charges against the accused were proven. However, the four convicts in the case were granted bail for one month on condition of appeal and will not need to go to prison immediately. Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun, representing the defence, said in his immediate reaction to the verdict that they had not received justice and will challenge the decision with a higher court. A heavy police presence was in the Bijoynagar area for the labour court’s verdict. Many media workers were present at the scene, including representatives from the BBC, Al Jazeera, Deutsche Welle and other international news agencies.
Yunus arrived at the court around 1:43 pm. The verdict was delivered around 2 pm. Barrister Al Mamun petitioned for bail after it was announced.
The court concluded the hearing of the arguments from both sides on Dec 24. It then set Jan 1 for the verdict.
On Monday, the court found them guilty of failing to deliver appointment letters to 101 employees, not paying employees during public holidays, and not submitted the fixed dividends to the Labour Welfare Foundation.
DCT/OL/AH/END
