News Brief
Chinmoy Krishna Das, Hindu Monk Jailed For Over A Month, Denied Bail By Bangladesh Court
Former ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das outside the court in Chittagong (File Photo)
A court in Bangladesh on Thursday (3 January) rejected the bail plea of Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, who was arrested on over alleged sedition.
The sedition charges against Das, who is in jail for over a month now, were filed in October, after he led a rally in Chattogram, where he was accused of showing disrespect towards Bangladesh’s national flag.
Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Saiful Islam refused to grant bail to Das, the former International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) leader, following a 30-minute hearing, held with heightened security,
A team of 11 lawyers participated in his bail hearing, according to the Bangladeshi publication The Daily Star.
He is a member of the Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatan Jagaran Jote group and was also linked to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
The complaint, filed by a leader of former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), alleged that they had disrespected the national flag at the Laldighi Maidan in Chattogram during a Hindu community rally held on 25 October.
Earlier, his bail plea hearings had to be postponed as lawyers appearing for Chinmoy Krishna Das were threatened.
On 11 December, a Chattogram court denied him bail citing that the plea was rejected because Das did not have a lawyer's letter of attorney on his behalf.
