FROM PAGE 1

“I congratulate the brave students who took the lead in making our ‘Second Victory Day’ possible and to the people for giving your total support to them. Let us make the best use of our new victory. Let us not let this slip away because of our mistakes.”

THE ACQUITTAL

Later in the day, a Dhaka tribunal acquitted Prof Yunus in a labour law violation case.

Three other top officials of Grameen Telecom were also acquitted.

MA Awal, chairman (in-charge) of the Labour Appellate Tribunal, delivered the verdict, Khaja Tanvir Ahmed, a lawyer for Yunus, told The Daily Star.

On January 1, the Labour Court-3 of Dhaka sentenced Yunus, also chairman of Grameen Telecom, and its directors Ashraful Hassan, M Shahjahan and Nurjahan Begum to six months’ imprisonment each for violating labour laws.

The four were also fined Tk 30,000 each, in default of which they would have to serve 25 more days in prison.

On January 28, Prof Yunus and his colleagues filed appeals with the Labour Appellate Tribunal against the sentence.

On September 9, 2021, Labour Inspector (General) SM Arifuzzaman filed the case with the labour court against the four.

The court framed the charges in the case on June 6 last year. It also recorded four prosecution witnesses’ statements.

The sections of the labour law under which the case was filed carry a maximum of six months’ imprisonment.

According to the case documents, Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments officials inspected the Grameen Telecom office in the capital’s Mirpur on August 16, 2021, and found several violations of labour laws.