The government in no way would interfere in the proceedings of the court, Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud has said.
He made the comment in response to the call of 12 US Senators to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for not harassing Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus.
When asked to comment on the issue the minister said that he was giving his reactions as the joint secretary of the ruling Awami League, not as the foreign minister.
“Some aggrieved employees of his company filed a case against him and the court has convicted him in its verdict. The government has nothing to do about this,” he said.
Twelve US senators wrote a letter to Prime Minister urging her to end, what they said was, "the persistent harassment" of Dr Yunus.
They also urged to end “the pattern of "abusing the justice system to target critics of the government more broadly”.
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US senators write to PM Hasina urging end to harassment of Dr Yunus
“Professor Yunus' positive efforts should not be undermined over ongoing political vendettas, especially in a democratic nation of laws," the letter said, adding that "For more than a decade, Professor Yunus has faced more than 150 unsubstantiated cases brought against him in Bangladesh."
The signatories of the letter include US Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and US Senators Todd Young, Tim Kaine, Dan Sullivan, Jeff Merkley, Jeanne Shaheen, Edward Markey, Sherrod Brown, Peter Welch, Sheldon Whitehouse, Ron Wyden, and Cory A Booker.
The senators referred to the statement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk and the Amnesty International saying that they had noted irregularities in proceedings against Yunus, including the most recent six-month prison sentence for allegedly violating the country's labour laws that is being appealed.
"Moreover, the repeated and sustained harassment of Yunus mirrors what many Bangladeshi civil society members also face in an increasingly restrictive environment," reads the letter.
