Deputy Attorney General Imran Ahmed Bhuiya on Monday refused to sign a statement allegedly prepared by the Attorney General’s office in protest against the statement of world leaders in support of Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

“More than 160 global leaders gave a statement in an open letter to the Prime Minister. I believe that Dr Yunus has been harassed using the judiciary. The Attorney General’s Office has decided to provide a counter statement and a directive was issued to sign the statement prepared by the office of AG through a whatsapp group of lawyers,” he said.

“But I will not sign as I believe that the trial proceeding of the case against Dr Yunus could be handled in other ways,” he added.

Contacted, Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik said Deputy Attorney General Imran Ahmed Bhuiyan's assertion that this was an official directive from the Attorney General's Office is not accurate. 

“It's actually being signed under the banner of ordinary Supreme Court lawyers. Deputy Attorney General Emran Ahmed Bhuiyan's claim is not correct. Had it been an official directive, it would have been signed by the Attorney General himself. But the statement doesn’t carry his signature. He is making false claims against the government,” he said.

On August 28, over 170 global leaders, including more than 100 Nobel laureates, issued the open letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, saying, "We are alarmed that he [Yunus] has recently been targeted by what we believe to be continuous judicial harassment."

In response to the call from world leaders to suspend legal action against Yunus, a total of 171 notable citizens, intellectuals, and professionals in Bangladesh issued a joint statement on September 2.

The open letter submitted to the prime minister by some Nobel laureates, legislators, businessmen, and civil society members from multiple countries "seems to be a clear threat to Bangladesh's sovereignty and independent judiciary," reads the statement issued by Dhaka University Professor Nisar Hossain, on behalf of the 171 signatories.

The signatories of the statement include educationists, economists, lawyers, journalists, actors, writers and theatre personalities.