Bangladesh Court Rejects Plea For Early Bail Hearing Of Arrested Hindu Priest Chinmoy Krishna Das

A court in Bangladesh has rejected the plea to change the bail hearing date of arrested Hindu priest, Chinmoy Krishna Das.

The court rejected the petition, stating that Chinmoy Krishna Das, who served as the spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilito Sanatani Jagaron Jote, had not granted authority to the lawyer who filed the request on Wednesday.

Rabindra Ghosh, a senior lawyer at Bangladesh's Supreme Court and a human rights activist, had travelled to Chittagong to submit the plea on Das’ behalf.

"I moved an application to Chittagong court to fix an early date for the bail hearing of Chinmoy Krishna Das but at that time about 30 lawyers entered the courtroom without the permission of the court and tried to assault me," Ghosh was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

"They taunt me as ISKCON agent, Chinmoy's agent. They want to know why I came here. They say, a lawyer was killed. They call me a murderer. I came as an advocate. How am I a murderer!" he added.

"The judge scolded them. They could not attack me because the police were there," Ghosh said.

According to Ghosh, Chinmoy’s lawyer was unable to attend the hearing because the murder case was filed in the lawyer's name. Ghosh applied on his behalf.

"After rejecting my plea, I went to the jail and collected the power from Chinmoy to move his case. The jail superintendent has confirmed the copy of the power. I will apply to the court again on Thursday," Ghosh said.

Chinmoy Krishna Das, a former ISKCON priest, was arrested by police at Dhaka Airport on 25 November on charges of sedition.

The following day, 26 November, a Chittagong court rejected his bail prayer and ordered him to be sent to prison.

Supporters of Chinmoy obstructed his prison van, lying down in front of it. Clashes erupted as police intervened, resulting in the death of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif.

On 3 December, the Chittagong court had fixed 2 January for the bail hearing as there was no lawyer to represent Chinmoy.

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