Dhaka,
Jun 12 (UNB)-A Dhaka court today framed charges against Nobel laureate Dr Yunus
and 13 others in a case over embezzling Tk 25.22 crore of the Grameen Telecom
Workers' welfare fund.
Dhaka's Special Judge's
Court-4 Judge Syed Arafat Hossain passed the order after rejecting a petition
for excluding names of the accused from the charges, said the defendants'
lawyer Barrister Abdullah Al Mamun.
The court also set July
15 to take testimony from the witnesses, formally beginning trial in the case,
he said.
Dr Yunus and the other
accused are now on bail and they pleaded not guilty, demanding justice while
the court was framing charges, said the lawyer.
On February 1 this year,
the investigating officer of the case, ACC Deputy Director Gulshan Anwar
Pradhan, submitted the charge sheet against Dr. Yunus and 13 others.
The court accepted the
charges against them on June 2 after a hearing in this regard.
The 13 other accused in
the case are: Grameen Telecom MD Nazmul Islam; Director Ashraful Hasan, former
MD Parveen Mahmood; Najnin Sultana, Shahjahan, Noorjahan Begum, and S. M.
Hazzatul Islam Latifi, all serving as directors; along with Advocate Yusuf Ali;
Advocate Zaforul Hasan Sharif; Md Kamruzzaman, President of the Union of
Grameen Telecom Employees; Firoz Mahmud Hasan, General Secretary; Kamrul Hasan,
office secretary of the Employees' Union office, and representative Mainul
Islam.
Gulshan Anwar, the
Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), filed the case as the
primary complainant on May 30, 2023.
END/UNB/Corr/SU/KW