Nobel laureate Yunus in Bangladesh court
Last week, the government ordered a probe into Yunus's Grameen Bank, with which he shared the Nobel prize in 2006, in the latest sign of friction between him and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Hasina, who recently accused microfinance groups of sucking blood from the poor, first clashed with Yunus in 2007 when he set up his own short lived political party.
In that year, he gave an interview to AFP in which he said Bangladesh's politics was simply about the "power to make money, prompting a defamation complaint by a low-ranking official of a minor left leaning party.
The case has lain dormant since 2007, but Yunus was Tuesday summoned to court in Memensingh district, about 100 kilometres 60 miles north of Dhaka, where he appeared for about 10 minutes.
I appeared before a court today in response to a summons, Yunus told AFP by email. I believe that the courts are here to deliver justice, and look forward to this matter being resolved soon."
Asked if he had now distanced himself from his 2007 comments, Yunus said that since the matter is before the courts, it won't be appropriate to make any further comment.
The court has granted Yunus bail and allowed a nominee to appear at the next hearing, which has been set by the judge for February 20, court inspector Shahid Shoqrana told AFP.
His lawyers argued that he is a major international personality so it is impossible for him to appear in court every day, Shoqrana said.
Yunus's lawyer, A.H.M. Khalequzzaman, told AFP that he did not believe his client's 2007 comments were strong enough to merit a defamation case.
Look, it was a general comment, it was not targeted against any one person, so we argued that it cannot amount to any defamation, he said.
This case is a type of harassment against my client. But Yunus is planning to appeal to the High Court in an effort to quash the case, he added.
The original complaint was lodged in January 2007 by an official from the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal party which is allied to the prime minister's ruling Awami League, prosecution lawyer Abul Kalam Mohammad Azad said.
It has taken years to come to court because judicial enquiries take time in Bangladesh, Azad said.
Manzoor Hasan, a politics professor at the private BRAC university, argued that the defamation case had no legal basis and likely stemmed from lingering resentment over Yunus's attempt to set up a political party in 2007.
Microcredit is one of the major achievements of Bangladesh. We owe much to Yunus for this innovative approach to reducing poverty. It is very unfortunate he is now being accused of these misdeeds, Hasan told AFP.
This matter must not be politicised. Nobody should indulge in character assassinations. We need to come together and focus on the real issues facing Bangladesh , food price hikes, congestion, acute power crisis, he added.
Local police said more than 500 people gathered at the Memensingh court building to catch a glimpse of Yunus, who is a hugely popular figure in rural Bangladesh.
The separate government probe into Grameen Bank was ordered after a Norwegian documentary claimed the organisation had misused Norwegian aid.
A Norwegian investigation cleared Yunus, but Hasina has since accused Yunus of pulling a trick to avoid tax.
The probe into Grameen and the case against Yunus come as the microfinance industry is under fire in neighbouring India over accusations of profiteering through high interest rates and heavy-handed debt collection.