Saima Wazed Putul, the regional director of the World Health Organization's (WHO) South-East Asia Regional Office, has been placed on leave for an indefinite period from Friday.
She took over as WHO's regional director in January 2024.
However, her appointment process has been said to be controversial and criticised from the very beginning.
There are allegations that her mother's political influence was used to secure this position.
Wazed is the daughter of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus notified staff in a brief internal email that Saima Wazed would be on leave from yesterday and that WHO Assistant Director-General Dr Catharina Boehme would "serve as the Officer in Charge" in her place.
No other details are available at this time.
Cases against Saima Wazed
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed two cases against Saima Wazed Putul, daughter of ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina and WHO's regional director for South-East Asia, on charges of fraud and misuse of power on 20 March.
She is accused of providing false information to secure her WHO position.
Saima Wazed is also accused of collecting about $2.8 million from various banks for the Shuchona Foundation. There is no certain explanation for how this money was spent.
In this regard, she has been charged with fraud and abuse of power, which fall under section 420 of the Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947.
Role of the interim govt
The interim government led by Muhammad Yunus earlier sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) to ensure direct Communication with the organization, bypassing its Regional Director Saima Wazed, daughter of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus's Press Wing made this statement at a briefing on October 30, 2024, at the capital.
"WHO Regional Director Saima Wazed Putul is dysfunctional for us right now. She has been implicated in several criminal cases and financial crimes, so we have informed WHO to take urgent action so that we can communicate with the organization directly," said Apurba Jahangir, deputy press secretary of the chief adviser.
Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the chief adviser, also supplemented the briefing and said: "She has been implicated in several criminal charges, and BFIU has frozen her bank account and is investigating his account, so there is no way for us to work with her now.
"We want to work directly with the WHO and urge them to inform about their action," added Shafiqul.
Some other top UN officials who were sent on forced leave or suspended
Ruud Lubbers (UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR)
A female staff member accused Lubbers (former Dutch Prime Minister) of inappropriate physical contact. An internal UN investigation found the claim credible, but then-UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan did not take strong action due to Lubbers' political influence. Lubbers later resigned in 2005 under pressure.
Andrew Toh (UN Assistant Secretary-General for Central Support Services)
Toh was accused of bypassing competitive bidding rules in a major UN procurement scandal. He was suspended and later resigned in 2008 after an investigation found evidence of misconduct.
Pamela Falk (UN Ethics Officer)
Falk was accused of blocking whistleblower complaints about misconduct. She was removed from her position following internal reviews.
John Ashe (UN General Assembly President, 2013–2014)
Ashe was charged in a US federal case for taking bribes from Chinese businessmen in exchange for UN favours. He died in 2016 before the trial.
Martina Bienenstein (UNICEF Senior Official)
After staff complaints, UNICEF placed her on administrative leave and later dismissed her following an investigation.
Why do UN authorities send their officials to forced leave or suspend them?
The UN suspends or sends heir high officials to forced leave for several reasons – serious misconduct or ethical violations, corruption, fraud, or financial mismanagement, criminal allegations, pending investigations (Due Process), political pressure & public image.
However, neither Saima Wazed Putul nor the WHO has commented on the matter yet.
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