Having to stand in an iron cage during court proceedings is humiliating, said Nobel laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus.
“I feel good as I was not forced to stand inside an iron cage today (Monday). I will keep talking about this issue,” he said after a hearing in an embezzlement case at the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 on Monday.
He further added that forcing people into iron cages is a great insult to the nation. “We should not tolerate this humiliation. I appeal to the Law and Justice Division to remove the cages as soon as possible. We want to get rid of its use.”
Writ seeks HC directive to remove iron cages from courtroomsDr Yunus also told the journalists present at the court premises to write more about why people should be put into iron cages like animals.
“I am just not talking about myself. No one should be subjected to iron cages. The purpose of coming here is to seek justice, not to be humiliated,” he added.
On Monday around 11am, Dr Yunus along with other accused in the case appeared in court.
The date was set for the testimony in the case. However, it was informed that an appeal had been filed with the High Court challenging the order of framing charges in this case, which is pending for a hearing.
Citing this, a request was made to postpone the testimony.
The court granted the request and set a new date for July 23. Due to the short duration of the testimony, Dr Yunus's lawyer, Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun, raised an objection.
Dr Yunus: Why should anyone stand in an iron cage before conviction?On May 30, 2023, ACC filed the case with its Dhaka-1 integrated district office.
According to the case documents, a decision was made at the company's 108th board meeting, presided over by Dr Yunus on May 9, 2022, to open a bank account at the Gulshan branch of Dhaka Bank Limited. However, it was found that the account was opened a day before the decision was even made.
More than Tk25 crore was transferred to the account on different occasions, as per “fake settlement agreements” and decision of the board. But before even distributing the share of the company's profit to the workers, and letting them know, the accused embezzled around Tk25 crore from the fund.
