ISKCON monk Chinmoy Krishna Das will have to languish in Bangladesh jail for at least another one month as his bail plea in a Chittagong court could not be heard.
The next hearing is slated for January 2 because no lawyer turned up on behalf of him.
The lawyers' association in Chittagong court, dominated by the majority community in Bangladesh, took a decision that none of them would represent Das in the court of law.
ISKCON authorities in Kolkata feared that legal assistance for Das would not be available after Ramen Roy, an advocate who decided to defend Das, was brutally attacked by extremists in Bangladesh.
“Roy’s house and chamber were vandalised. He is now admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of a healthcare facility in Bangladesh. He is battling for his life,” said ISKCON Kolkata’s spokesperson Radharaman Das.
“No new lawyer has come up to defend our monk in Bangladesh. Those who want to fight for him are afraid that they might face the same consequences as Roy. We would request the Bangladesh government to allow lawyers who are willing to defend our man with adequate safety and security,” said the spokesperson.
The ISKCON monk was arrested at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on November 27 over charges of sedition. He and 18 others are accused of hoisting a saffron flag above Bangladesh’s national flag during a rally on October 25 at Laldighi Maidan in Chittagong.
Bangladesh authorities also ordered for freezing bank accounts linked to 17 individuals associated with the ISKCON.
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