Under threat of jail, microfinance pioneer vows to keep lending to poorest Bangladeshis

Muhammad Yunus waves to supporters outside a court in Dhaka where he was granted bail on 3 March. Photograph: Rehman Asad/AFP/Getty Images

The Nobel peace laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus has said that years of fighting what he calls “dirty” politically motivated attacks on his work to alleviate poverty in Bangladesh have made life “totally miserable”.

Yunus told the Guardian he had come under 20 years of pressure from the Bangladeshi government for his work, which is credited with improving the lives of millions of poor people, particularly women.