Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been sentenced to six months in prison by a court in Bangladesh. According to the prosecutor, Yunus has violated the country’s labor laws. The 83-year-old’s supporters condemn the sentence as politically motivated.
Muhammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work with the Barefoot Bank, which provides microcredit to poor people who want to run businesses.
Yunus led the bank from its inception in the mid-1970s until 2012, when Bangladesh’s Supreme Court deemed him too old. He is also the founder of the company Grameen Telecom.
Prime Minister Sheikh Wajed has, over the years, several times made vicious rants against him personally.
“Professor Yunus and three of his Grameen Telecom colleagues were sentenced under labor law to six months in prison,” says prosecutor Khurshid Alam Khan.
He adds that all four were immediately granted bail pending appeals.