Outcry in Bangladesh over 'politically driven' conviction of Nobel laureate

The Nobel peace laureate Muhammad Yunus has been convicted of violating Bangladesh's labour laws in a trial decried by his supporters as politically motivated.

- Peter Beaumont

The 83-year-old, credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his microfinance bank, Grameen, has earned the enmity of Sheikh Hasina, the longtime prime minister, who has accused him of "sucking blood" from poor people.

Hasina's administration has become increasingly firm in its crackdown on political dissent. She has made several scathing verbal attacks against Yunus, who won the peace prize in 2006 and was once seen as a political rival. 

Sheikh Merina Sultana, the head of Dhaka's third labour court, found Yunus and three colleagues from Grameen Telecom guilty, sentencing each to six months in jail. All four were granted bail pending appeals.

Sultana said in her verdict that 67 Grameen employees should have been made permanent and that participation and welfare funds had not been set up, and that under company policy, 5% of dividends were supposed to be distributed to staff.