176 world leaders and Nobel laureates urge Bangladesh to halt legal cases against Peace Prize winner
More than 170 global leaders and Nobel laureates are urging Bangladesh to suspend legal proceedings against Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering the use of microcredit to help impoverished people
DHAKA, Bangladesh — More than 170 global leaders and Nobel laureates have urged Bangladesh's prime minister to suspend legal proceedings against Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for pioneering the use of microcredit to help impoverished people.
In an open letter, the leaders, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and more than 100 Nobel laureates, said they were deeply concerned by recent threats to democracy and human rights in Bangladesh.
«One of the threats to human rights that concerns us in the present context is the case of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus. We are alarmed that he has recently been targeted by what we believe to be continuous judicial harassment,” said the letter, dated Tuesday.
“We are confident that any thorough review of the anti-corruption and labor law cases against him will result in his acquittal,” it said.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina responded by saying she would welcome international experts and lawyers to come to Bangladesh to assess the legal proceedings and examine documents involving the charges against Yunus.
“If they send the experts and lawyers, many more things will get revealed, which remain untouched. Many such things will come out,” Hasina said.
In 1983, Yunus founded Grameen Bank, which gives small loans to entrepreneurs who would not normally qualify for bank loans. The bank’s success in lifting people out of poverty led to similar microfinancing efforts in
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