Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen said Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus is a national asset, but he has been punished for his criminal activities.

"Muhammad Yunus is our national asset. He is a Nobel Laureate. We respect him a lot. But there are many Nobel Laureates in the world who have done wrong and committed criminal acts, they have been punished. In this case, our Nobel Laureate has done crime," he said.

Momen, also the ruling Awami League candidate from Sylhet-1 in the January 7 national election, made this remark while talking to journalists last night after holding a views exchange meeting with expatriates at his election office at Dhopadighirpar in Sylhet city.

He said, "As far as I know he [Yunus] did not pay his labourers and cheated them. The judgment has been delivered against him for that reason. It's a matter of court… it's a huge legal process. He got his opportunity to fight it legally. He got the opportunity of arguments. Then they [the court] pronounced the verdict based on evidence."

Responding to a question about whether foreign relations will deteriorate after the judgment, he added, "Every country respects the law. I don't think there will be any impact regarding this."

When asked about a recently published report on the BBC, he replied, "BBC is a media and media often publish something flashy to attract readers. But no country decides its foreign policy based on the media reports. All governments decide on future relations on the basis of their analysis and interests."

He said, "Our goal is to organise a free, fair, transparent and acceptable election. We'll be successful only if we can do this. What our countrymen say is very important but what others think is a secondary matter."

A Dhaka court on Monday sentenced Muhammad Yunus and three other top officials of Grameen Telecom to six months in jail in a case filed by the government over labour law violations. Later the court granted them bail.