Bangladeshi legal professionals, media representatives, and civil society leaders have called for due process and the presumption of innocence to be upheld in the detention of Shincheonji Chairman ManHee Lee, raising concerns about the fairness and justice of the case.

At a Dhaka forum on religious minorities, human rights, and justice, lawyers, journalists, and youth leaders discussed judicial fairness and the treatment of elderly detainees.

Law professor Abdul Awal Khan stressed that pretrial detention should be exceptional under international human rights standards and that due process must apply equally to minorities and majorities. BTV Editor-in-Chief Zahidul Islam urged objective reporting, emphasising that accusations should not be treated as proof of guilt before a final court ruling. Forum president Brahmanda Pratap Barua also highlighted the need to protect elderly detainees' health, dignity, and rights.

Participants adopted a joint statement calling for respect for the presumption of innocence and protection of religious minorities. They plan to submit it to UN human rights bodies and the South Korean Embassy in Bangladesh.

Source: naver.me/Fx2rcnEg