Bangladesh's Supreme Court Tuesday rejected the latest appeal in the Appellate Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, who challenged the decision of the Central Bank to dismiss the bank he founded, Grameen Bank, told AFP his lawyer.
"The appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court," said his counsel, Mr. Husain Shawan Tamin, saying it was a decision taken unanimously by the seven judges of the highest court in the country.
Mr.Yunus, 70, was fired March 2 of the Grameen Bank by the Central Bank of Bangladesh which has been criticized for failing to obtain authorization in proper form at its renewal in 1999 to DG the institution he created in 1983.
The high court of Bangladesh has confirmed this decision on March 8, saying the dismissal was lawful and that Muhammad Yunus had also exceeded the age limit of 60 years imposed by the Grameen Bank.
Supported by his supporters around the world, however, he defied orders to leave the bank by returning to work and by launching a legal battle to keep control.
According to his supporters, Mr.Yunus, who has quarreled for years with the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, is the victim of a smear campaign.
His troubles began in 2007 when he floated the idea of creating his own political party, citing a ruling class interested in "money and power." Mr.Yunus was waived after a few months.
In December 2010, after it broadcast a Norwegian documentary quite critical about this pioneer of microfinance, Hasina accused him of "sucking the blood of the poor" and financial manipulations to avoid paying taxes.
After exhausting all legal options by law, his only hope now rests Yunus on a separate appeal filed by nine members of the Grameen Bank with the Supreme Court.
The matter should be discussed Wednesday, according to his lawyers. Few observers, however, expect a favorable outcome.
Muhummad Yunus has, in recent months, been regularly vilified in the press in Bangladesh.His bank is also subject to a government survey.
According to observers, the influence of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, now operating in the solar panels, mobile phones and other consumer goods, caused the jealousy of the government.
25% owned by the state, the establishment has more than 8 million clients in 82,000 villages. His model has been copied worldwide.
Washington recently expressed "deeply troubled" by the removal of Mr. Yunus, saying that bilateral relations would be affected if an amicable solution was not found.
