Bangladeshi court rejects Hindu monk’s bail petition

A court in the southeastern port city of Chattogram on Thursday denied bail to Hindu monk and former ISKCON leader Chinmoy Krishna Das in a sedition case.

A group of 11 lawyers stood for him with a bail petition during the hearing for which Das appeared 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 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 a 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.

Earlier on December 11, the court rejected a plea seeking advanced hearing of his bail petition by lawyer Rabindra Ghose ruling that it would be heard on the previously fixed date on January 2, 2025.

Court officials said the judge at that time rejected the plea as the lawyer who filed the petition seeking the advanced hearing (Ghose) did not have the power of attorney from the monk.

The hearing was due to be held on December 3 when the court deferred the date to January 2 on a prosecution side suggestion as no lawyer appeared on Das' behalf.

An associate of Das from his Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote, Sawtantra Gauranga Das, earlier said no lawyer stood for the monk fearing threats and pressure from a “politically motivated lawyers' group.”

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.

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.