War crimes convict Muhammad Kamaruzzaman’s petition for a review of his death penalty has been lined up for a hearing at the Appellate Division on Wednesday.
The defence of the Jamaat-e-Islami leader has asked the top appeals court for another four weeks to prepare for the hearing.
On Mar 9, the full bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice SK Sinha scheduled the hearing for Apr 1.
Assistant Attorney General Bashir Ahmed said on Tuesday the hearing was the fourth on the cause list for the day. “The defence has asked to be given another four weeks for the review hearing.”
Others in the four-member bench are Justice Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury.
In May, 2013, Kamaruzzaman was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 after it found him guilty of five of the seven charges levelled against him by the prosecution.
The Appellate Division later confirmed the death sentence.
As the acting President of Islami Chhatra Sangha in Mymensingh in 1971, he had been the ‘chief organiser’ of the Al Badr in the region during the 1971 Liberation War.
Vigilante militia Al Badr was formed to assist the Pakistan Army to thwart Bangladesh’s freedom struggle, the court had observed.
Three of judges of the International Crimes Tribunal-2 had signed his death warrant on Feb 19 this year after the Supreme Court published the full verdict.
The warrant was then read out to Kamaruzzaman in prison.
As per law, he can file a review against the Supreme Court’s verdict within 15 days of the publication of the full verdict.
On Mar 5, a 45-page review petition was filed by his lawyers citing 44 reasons why Kamaruzzaman should be released. They had met him in prison the previous day.
The review petition has stalled the execution of the death warrant, the attorney general had said after that.
Source: Bd news24
