A Dhaka court has framed charges against Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and 13 others in a case involving the misappropriation of about Tk25.22 crore from the Workers' Profit Participation Fund of Grameen Telecom.
Prof Yunus and the 13 other defendants, who are currently out on bail, pleaded not guilty and demanded justice after Judge Syed Arafat Hossain of the Special Judge's Court-4 of Dhaka read out the charges.
Before this, the judge dismissed petitions submitted to discharge them from the charges.
The court has scheduled the trial to begin on 15 July.
In his order, the judge stated that the charges against Prof Yunus and the others were primarily proven, warranting the framing of charges. Additionally, the judge noted that the allegations of misappropriation and money laundering were substantiated.
The 13 other accused are: Grameen Telecom Managing Director Nazmul Islam; Directors Ashraful Hassan, Naznin Sultana, Parvin Mahmud, M Shahjahan, Nurjahan Begum, and SM Huzzatul Islam Latifee; Sramik-Karmachari Union President Kamruzzaman; General Secretary Firoz Mahmud Hasan and representative Mainul Islam; Jatiya Workers Federation Office Secretary Kamrul Hasan; Lawyers Zafrul Hasan Sharif and Yusuf Ali
On June 2, Anti-Corruption Commission's Public Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kazol argued in favor of framing charges against the accused. Defense lawyers, including Abdullah-Al-Mamun and Mohammad Shaheenoor Islam, argued for discharging the 14 accused, including Yunus.
On 2 May, the court granted bail to the accused.
On 2 April, the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court of Dhaka accepted the charges against the 14 accused and transferred the case to the Special Judge's Court-4 of Dhaka for further proceedings.
The case was filed by Investigation Officer Gulshan Anwar Prodhan, a deputy director of the ACC, on 30 May last year, and the charge sheet was submitted to the Metropolitan Senior Special Judge's Court of Dhaka on 1 February this year.
