Dr Yunus still spending funds against the country: Shahriar Alam

State minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam has said that Dr Muhammad Yunus and his people are still spending funds against Bangladesh.

He was speaking in context of statements issued by over 150 leading personalities of various sectors around the world, including over a hundred Nobel laureates, expressing their concern about the case against Dr Yunus.

The state minister was speaking to journalists at the end of an event on Bangladesh-South Korea cooperation, held Tuesday afternoon at a hotel in the capital.

He said, "It costs about USD 2 million (over 20 crore taka) to get a two-page ad in the international media. Using the same amount of money like an ad to get people's signatures..."

 Mentioning that over half of the signatories were retired persons, Shahriar Alam said, "He (Dr Yunus) or his people are still spending funds against Bangladesh. There is no doubt about that."

A case is underway in Dhaka courts against Dr Muhammad Yunus, accusing him off violating the labour law and misappropriating funds. An open letter expressing concern about this matter has been sent to prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Signatories of the letter include former US president Barack Obama, former US secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon and other eminent personalities. The Chicago-based public relations company in the US, Cision PR, published this letter on the website on Monday.

When asked about the letter, Shahriar Alam said, "It is disappointing that continuous efforts are being made to protect an individual. In the past a certain person or institution did not receive international honour just because of his quality, but there was a lot of investment behind this."

The state minister for foreign affairs said that the government had no influence on the cases against Dr Muhammad Yunus and would not influence this in the future either. He said the judiciary is independent and was carrying out the proceedings accordingly based on information and evidence.

The open letter signed by eminent personalities of the international arena has called for a halt to the case against Dr Yunus. Shahriar Alam said, "I have never heard of any appeal made before to stop a trial process and those who are joining in this  appeal are not doing justice to their reputations."

The state minister for foreign affairs said the government would welcome any monitoring of the judicial proceedings. "A person who is involved in business, who has employed thousands and thousands of people, who has property -- may have legal issues. That does not mean he will be a criminal or that he cannot be investigated. Is there any person in the world against who no allegations can be levelled or against whom there can be no investigations?" he asked.

Shahriar Alam further said that the government is neither concerned nor worried by this letter, adding, "Bangladesh's judiciary is independent, the judiciary will decide and the trial will proceed."

When asked if there was a distance between the government and Dr Muhammad Yunus, Shahriar Alam said, "You all are aware of the 1/11 events. But even so, there is nothing from our side in these 15 or 17 years."

The state minister for foreign affairs went on to say, the government or embassy or foreign ministry has nothing new to say or explain about an under trial issue. It is the court that will take a decision. They must have the courage to accept the decision of the trial."