A court in southeastern Bangladesh on Thursday rejected a plea for bail by a jailed Hindu leader who led large rallies in the Muslim-majority country demanding better security for minority groups. Krishna Das Prabhu, 39, faces sedition charges after he led huge rallies in the southeastern city of Chattogram. Hindu groups say there have been thousands of attacks against Hindus since early August, when the secular government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was overthrown.
Prabhu didn't appear at the hearing, during which Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge Saiful Islam rejected the bail plea, according to Public Prosecutor Mofizul Haque Bhuiyan. Security was tight, with police and soldiers guarding the court. “He faces serious charges like sedition and others involving the security and sovereignty of our country," Bhuiyan told The Associated Press by phone. "We argued in the court that if he gets bail it could create anarchy as we saw in the past that he triggered violence on the court premises by calling thousands of his supporters to protest.
"So, we moved against his bail plea as we believed that he could misuse his bail.”. Apurba Kumar Bhattacharjee, a lawyer representing Prabhu, said that they would appeal the decision. The court rejected an earlier request for bail made while Prabhu didn't have lawyers. Lawyers who sought to represent him at that hearing said they were threatened or intimidated, and many of them are facing charges related to the death of a Muslim lawyer during clashes outside the court when Prabhu appeared there shortly after being arrested in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, in November.
