Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, chairman of Grameen Telecom, expressed hope to get justice from the court.
He said this at the Kakrail tribunal premises of the capital at around 11:30am on Sunday after getting bail from the Labor Appellate Tribunal in the case of violation of labour law.
Dr Muhammad Yunus said: “I thank everyone, hoping that the works are completed beautifully. We all want the country to prosper. We all want to be engaged in the work of the country. We have to devote our time to these various legal matters.”
Regarding having to come to the court again and again in various cases, Dr Yunus said: “Time is running out. It keeps us all busy, when we could be doing other things.”
The Labour Appellate Tribunal on Sunday extended the bail period of Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, chairman of Grameen Telecom, and three other top officials.
Dhaka Labour Appellate Tribunal Acting Chairman MA Awal passed the order.
Dr Muhammad Yunus' lawyer Abdullah Al Mamun said the court fixed April 16 for the next hearing in the case.
The officials were granted bail earlier on January 18.
On January 1, a Dhaka court sentenced Dr Muhammad Yunus, and three others to six months in jail over labour law violations.
The court also fined them Tk5,000 under one section and Tk25,000 under another, in default of which they would have to spend an additional 10 and 15 days in prison.
The labour court gave them one month to file an appeal in the High Court to challenge the judgement.
The three other accused in the case are Grameen Telecom CEO Md Ashraful Hassan, Managing Director M Shahjahan and Trustee Nurjahan Begum.
Dr Yunus was facing more than 100 other charges over labour law violations and alleged graft.
After one of the hearings last month, he told reporters that he had not profited from any of the more than 50 social business firms he had set up in Bangladesh, reports AFP.
"They were not for my personal benefit," Yunus said.
In August, 160 global figures, including former US president Barack Obama and ex-UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, published a joint letter denouncing "continuous judicial harassment" of Yunus.
The signatories, including over 100 of his fellow Nobel laureates, said they feared for "his safety and freedom".
On September 9, 2021, a case was filed by the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment against Dr Muhammad Yunus and three others for violating labour laws.
According to case files, the department noticed several labour law violations during an inspection at Grameen Telecom.
The violations include failing to permanent the jobs of 101 workers and employees, not forming a workers' participation fund and welfare fund, and failing to provide 5% of the company's dividend to workers.
