Nobel laureates write to PM Hasina expressing concern over case against Dr Yunus
More than 150 Nobel laureates and world leaders in different sectors have issued an open letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressing concern over the case against Dr Muhammad Yunus on allegations of breaching the labour law and corruption. Of them, more than 100 are Nobel laureates.
US-based public relation (PR) agency Cision PR Newswire published the letter on their website on Monday. The signatories include 14 Nobel peace prize winners, including Barack Obama, Shirin Ebadi, Nadia Murad, Tawakkol Karman and Maria Ressa; four Nobel laureate in literature – JM Coetzee, Herta Muller, Orhan Pamuk and Wole Soyinka; seven Nobel laureates in economics, including Joseph E Stiglitz, 28 Nobel laureates in Chemistry, 29 Nobel medicine prize winners and 22 Nobel laureates in physics.
Apart from them, there are more than 50 world leaders, including former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Virgin group founder Sir Richard Branson in the list of the signatories of this open letter.
The list also includes former prime ministers, presidents, ministers, top businesspersons and military commanders from different countries.
What is written in the open letter to PM Hasina?
The letter reads, “We write to you as Nobel Prize laureates, elected officials, and business and civil society leaders, and as friends of Bangladesh. We admire how your nation has made laudable progress since its independence in 1971.
However, we are deeply concerned by the threats to democracy and human rights that we have observed in Bangladesh recently. We believe that it is of the utmost importance that the upcoming national election be free and fair, and that the administration of the election be acceptable to all major parties in the country. The previous two national elections lacked legitimacy.”
One of the threats to human rights that concerns us in the present context is the case of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus. We are alarmed that he has recently been targeted by what we believe to be continuous judicial harassment. This letter attempts to build upon an earlier appeal to you by 40 global leaders who were concerned about his safety and freedom.
We respectfully ask that you immediately suspend the current judicial proceedings against Professor Yunus, followed by a review of the charges by a panel of impartial judges drawn from within your nation with some role for internationally recognized legal experts. We are confident that any thorough review of the anti-corruption and labor law cases against him will result in his acquittal.
As you know, Professor Yunus’ work, which has been inspirational to all of us, focuses on how social business can be a force for international progress resulting in zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions. He is a leading example of how Bangladesh and Bangladeshis have contributed to global progress in recent decades. We sincerely wish that he be able to continue his path-breaking work free of persecution or harassment.
We hope that you ensure the resolution of these legal issues in an expedient, impartial, and just manner while also ensuring a free, fair, and participatory national election in the coming months, and respect for all human rights. We will join with millions of concerned citizens around the world in closely tracking how these matters are resolved in the days ahead.”