CM Kajawl :
International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Thursday issued death warrant for Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman one day after the release of the full verdict of the appeal petition against his death sentence for his 1971 crimes against humanity.
The three judges of the Tribunal-2 Justice Obaidul
Hassan, Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Shahinur Islam signed the death warrant for the 62-year-old Jamaat leader.
The copies of the death warrant were sent to the Dhaka Central Jail, Home Ministry and the District Magistrate’s office yesterday. Deputy Registrar of the ICT Aftab-uz-Zaman carried a copy of the death warrant to Dhaka Central Jail in the afternoon.
The jail authorities read out the death warrant before the condemned war criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, the Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami, at the jail, Senior Superintendent of Dhaka Central Jail Farman Ali said.
After hearing the death warrant Kamaruzzaman wanted to meet his lawyers, he said.
Regarding the process of the execution of the judgement, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the authorities could start the process to execute the verdict from now on. Regarding the wait of 15 days to execute the court’s order, he said, the Appellate Division did not mention in its verdict to wait 15 days for execution.
However, the execution could be suspended if the defence files a review petition, Mahbubey Alam said. Otherwise, he said, the process of the execution would start.
President of Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain said the government should have to wait 15 days to execute the verdict even the convict does not file any petition for review.
If the death sentence remains in place after the disposal of review petition, the convict will also have the opportunity to move a petition for Presidential mercy, he said.
“The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in its verdict said the convict would get 15 days time to file a review petition from the date of receiving the full text of the verdict. So, the death sentence cannot be executed within 15 days,” he said in a news conference at Supreme Court Bar Association Auditorium yesterday.
He also expressed his astonishment with the comments of Attorney General Mahbubey Alam regarding the execution of the Kamaruzzaman’s death sentence.
“He (Mahbubey) said the government should not wait for 15 days to execute the verdict. I cannot understand how does he say this? The Appellate Division in its verdict said the defence would have the opportunity to file a review petition on the judgement within 15 days from the date of receiving the full text of the verdict,” the SCBA president said.
Criticizing the Attorney General’s comment, he said, “The Attorney General cannot give such advice to the government. I want to say that following the decision of Appellate Division, we will file a review petition within 15 days after getting the certified copy of the full judgement,” he said.
Khandker Mahbub said that the verdict could be executed after the disposal of the review petition, not before that. “We have already applied for the certified copy of the full verdict. We are yet to get it. We will file the review petition within 15 days from the date we receive the copy. It is the legal right of the convict.”
In reply to a query, the SCBA President said, the death sentence cannot be executed violating the law. After the disposal of the review petition, if the death sentence remains in place, the convict should be asked if he wanted to seek Presidential clemency, he said. “If he (Kamaruzzaman) wants to move the mercy petition, the sentence cannot be executed until he gets the decision,” he said.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday released the full text of the verdict on the appeal petition of Kamaruzzaman against his death sentence. The Jamaat leader awarded with death sentence by the ICT-2 on May 9, 2013 for his involvement in the crimes against humanity during the liberation war of Bangladesh.
The Tribunal framed seven charges against him, of which five allegations were proved beyond reasonable doubt. He was acquitted in the other two charges.
Kamaruzzaman was given capital punishment in two charges — the mass killing of Sohaghpur village and the killing of Golam Mostafa Talukder.
Later, the apex court sustained the death sentence of Kamaruzzaman in the charge of Sohaghpur genocide.
Kamaruzzaman filed appeal petition with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court against his death sentence on June 6 last year. The apex court passed its order on November 3, upholding his death sentence.
But the full text of the verdict was released on February 18.
The four judges of the Appellate Division — Chief Justice SK Sinha, Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik — upheld the death penalty by a majority decision.
Three judges retained the death sentence, while Justice Wahhab Miah reduced the punishment to lifelong imprisonment.
