'Don't even know why I'm being tried, says Nobel laureate Yunus

"It is very humiliating” to be confined inside an iron cage in court, the Nobel laureate says

Nobel Prize-winning Grameen Telecom Chairman Muhammad Yunus, who has been charged with embezzlement and laundering of money, has said this trial is a tactic to harass him.

Speaking after his indictment by a Dhaka court on Wednesday, Yunus expressed his bewilderment and denied any wrongdoing.

"I don't know; since when have I been associated with money embezzlement, money laundering, and fraud. I have never learned how to do it, nor have I done it. This accusation was suddenly thrust on me," he said.

The Anti-Corruption Commission or ACC has prosecuted Yunus along with 13 others for allegedly embezzling Tk 252.20 million from dividends intended for the company's employees. The other defendants are also Grameen Telecom officials and employees.

The court of Dhaka Fourth Special Judge Syed Arafat Hossain ordered the charges against Yunus and 13 others to proceed to trial on Wednesday.

The judge then set Jul 15 for the first hearing of the trial.

Earlier, Dhaka's Third Labour Court sentenced four people, including Yunus, to six months of imprisonment in a case filed by the Directorate of Inspection of Factories and Institutions for violating labour laws on Jan 1.

The 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner later appealed against that judgment to the Labour Appeal Court.

Yunus has always denied all allegations made against him while stating that he is being 'harassed' by the government.

After the court framed charges against him on Wednesday, Yunus said: "I do not understand what they are putting me on trial for. This is harassment. It doesn't make sense to me or my colleagues. We have spent our whole life in service to people. We have not come to embezzle money but rather to spread it."

While addressing journalists, he condemned the practice of detaining the defendants behind iron bars in court.

"It is very humiliating to see an innocent citizen of a country confined within an iron cage during a hearing. I am being harassed. This is merely a fraction of what's happening. It will continue," he added.

"We were all inside the iron cage today. I was asked to stay behind initially. But I said that since everyone is going, I will also stand in the cage with them."

He also asked legal experts and people who are involved in the justice system to review whether it is necessary to keep an iron cage during these hearings.

Yunus shared the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 with Grameen Bank for their efforts in alleviating poverty in Bangladesh through microcredit. Since Grameen Bank's establishment, Yunus has been performing his duties as the managing director with the support and funding provided by the government.

In 2011, the central bank questioned his tenure due to his age. By the time the central bank released him, he was about 71.

Yunus mounted a legal battle for control of the microcredit organisation but lost on a decision of the Appellate Division.