Staff Reporter :
The High Court is expected to start its hearing soon on the death reference and appeals in the Holey Artisan attack case, as the case paper book has already been prepared by the office concerned of the court.
A paper book contains all the case details, trial proceedings, statements, evidence, orders, verdict, and other relevant documents. The book is necessary for the HC for holding the hearing and disposing of a death reference or an appeal.
According to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), if a lower court orders the death penalty, the verdict is to be examined by the HC for confirmation of the punishment.
Now the HC is supposed to examine the lower court judgment in the case by holding a hearing of the death reference.
The officials and staff concerned of the HC were delayed by a few months to prepare the paper book of the case for the ongoing pandemic, court sources said.
Supreme Court Spokesperson Mohammad Saifur Rahman said on June 23 that the paper book had been prepared.
“After the relevant procedures are completed, Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain will assign an HC bench for hearing and disposing of the death reference of the case,” he said.
He, however, could not say whether the convicts have filed an appeal with the HC, challenging the trial court judgment.
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin said, his office will place arguments in the HC for confirmation of punishment of the convicted militants when the court will hold a hearing on the death reference.
On July 1, 2016, five militants, armed with guns, machetes, and grenades, stormed the upscale eatery in the diplomatic zone in Gulshan and held the diner hostage before brutally killing 20 of them, three Bangladeshis, seven Japanese, nine Italians, and one Indian.
The militants were killed during a rescue operation by army commandos. Two police officials and a chef of the café were also killed during the 12-hour standoff, while another injured staffer of the eatery died later.
A Dhaka court on November 27, 2019, sentenced seven militants to death for their involvement in the attack, terming it a disgraceful attack aimed at assassinating the non-communal character of Bangladesh.
The seven convicts are Jahangir Hossain, Aslam Hossain Rash, Hadisur Rahman, Rakibul Hasan Regan, Md Abdus Sabur Khan, Shariful Islam Khaled and Mamunur Rashid Ripon, who were also fined Tk 50,000 each. The Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal acquitted one accused as it found him not guilty.
