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A Bangladesh court on Thursday rejected the bail plea of Chinmoy Krishna Das, a Hindu monk and spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote, who has been arrested and jailed by the local authorities on charges of sedition.
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.
His bail petition stated that Das - a monk who is suffering from various diseases including diabetes and respiratory problems - has been arrested in a false and fabricated case.
Calling the development "sad", Radha Raman Das, Vice President of the ISCKON Kolkata urged the Bangladesh government to ensure that the Hindu monk gets justice.
"It's very sad news. We know that the entire world was keeping an eye on this. Everyone was expecting Chinmoy Prabhu will get freedom in the new year - but even after 42 days, his bail was rejected in a hearing today... Bangladesh government should ensure that he gets justice," he said while speaking to news agency ANI.
The former ISKCON priest was arrested from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport area of Dhaka in connection with a sedition case, among other charges, filed in Chattogram on November 25. Earlier, his bail plea hearings had to be postponed as lawyers appearing for Chinmoy Krishna Das were threatened.
On December 11, 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.
The unrest in Bangladesh stems from the sedition charges filed against Chinmoy Krishna Das for allegedly raising a saffron flag above Bangladesh's national flag in Chittagong on October 25.
His arrest had sparked protests, culminating in violent clashes between his followers and law enforcement outside the Chattogram Court Building on November 27, which resulted in the death of a lawyer.