A court in Bangladesh’s Chattogram on Thursday (January 2) rejected the bail plea of the jailed Hindu monk Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari.
Who was arrested by the Dhaka Police on November 25 in connection with a sedition case. The bail plea sought by a team of 11 Supreme Court lawyers who had travelled to Chattogram from Dhaka, was rejected by Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Saiful Islam after hearing arguments from both sides for around 30 minutes, reported Dhaka-based The Daily Star.
The team of 11 lawyers was led by senior advocate Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee, who is also the spokesperson of the Sammilita Sanatani Jagaran Jote, an organisation that Chinmoy is also a part of. Bhattacharjee, Chinmoy’s lawyer, told The Daily Star that they plan to appeal to the High Court for bail.
“We presented our arguments before the court. The prosecution opposed the bail. The court rejected it. We will take the next step by moving to the higher court,” Apurba Kumar Bhattacharya, who is Bangladesh’s former Deputy Attorney General, told the Dhaka-based Business Standard.
Chinmoy Krishna Das was not presented in court on Thursday, according to The Daily Star.
The hearing on Thursday was held under tight security a month after no lawyer could step in to represent Chinmoy in the Chattogram court as Islamists threatened them with ‘public thrashing’.
Chinmoy Krishna Das’s previous lawyer, Rabindranath Ghosh, who tried to get legal help for him in December, is admitted to Kolkata’s Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial (SSKM) Hospital after experiencing sudden chest pain. Ghosh, the 75-year-old senior lawyer, said he was harassed and attacked outside the court when he went to file the bail petition in December. Hundreds of lawyers crowded the courtroom during the hearing, creating chaos.
Ghosh, also a Supreme Court lawyer, tried to seek relief for Chinmoy a week after his arrest. Chinmoy emerged as a prominent voice for minorities, particularly Hindus, following the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s regime, which led to widespread attacks on minorities in Bangladesh. Das was arrested by Dhaka Police’s Detective Branch under sedition charges on November 25.
Following Das’ arrest, his bail application was rejected by Chittagong’s Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court on November 26.
Two other monks who went to meet Das in jail were also put behind bars on November 29. Das, earlier in November, in an exclusive interview with India Today Digital, said that the sedition case was an attempt to finish off the leadership spearheading the protests for minority rights in Muhammad Yunus’ regime.