A file image of monk and ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das (AT Photo)
Dhaka, Jan. 3: The court of Metropolitan Sessions Judge in the port city of Chattogram on Thursday denied bail to Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das in a sedition case.
Notably, Das is also a former ISKCON leader.
A group of 11 lawyers stood for him as Das appeared for the hearing of the bail petition virtually.
"The hearing continued for some 30 minutes when (Metropolitan Sessions) Judge Mohammad Saiful Islam heard both the prosecution and the defence lawyers and then rejected his (Das') bail petition," a court official said.
Das, formerly with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) and now a spokesperson for the Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote organisation, was arrested at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on November 25. He was brought to Chattogram where the court sent him to jail rejecting his bail petition the next day.
He was arrested on sedition charges for allegedly "desecrating" the Bangladesh flag and brought to Chattogram where subsequent violence over his arrest left a government prosecutor dead, sparking further tensions.
"The allegation of disrespecting the national flag is baseless, as it was not a national flag. We informed the court that this case cannot proceed," top defence counsel Apurba Kumar Bhattacharya told journalists emerging from the closely monitored hearing.
Public Prosecutor Mofizul Haque Bhuiyan, on the other hand, said, "We opposed the bail during the hearing, and the court has rejected the bail application."
Bhattacharya, a former deputy attorney general, was leading the team of 11 Supreme Court lawyers to represent Das. Police enforced tight security inside and around the court complex allowing lawyers and others concerned after strict identity checks.
When Das' bail was rejected on November 26, the decision had angered members of the Hindu community, who staged a protest around the prison van outside the court leading to violent clashes. It led to the death of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif.
There have been a series of attacks on Hindu community members and their places of worship after the interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus came to power after deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina fled the country on August 5 following a student-led protest.
On October 31, a case was filed with the Kotwali police station in Chattogram accusing Das and 18 others of disrespecting Bangladesh's national flag.
- With inputs from news agencies
