C M Kajawl :Death row convict Muhammad Kamaruzzaman was given one day time to take decision about a mercy petition for presidential clemency. Kamaruzzaman, the Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami, requested the Dhaka Central Jail authority to allow him one day time to decide whether he would move a mercy petition after the prison authority had read out the verdict of his review petition to him on Wednesday. He also wanted to consult the matter with his counsels after hearing the verdict, a source said. The jail authority fixed Thursday 11:00am for Kamaruzzaman to meet his lawyers in the prison, the counsel of convict Shishir Munir said.Earlier, Kamaruzzaman told his son Hasan Iqbal that he would take decision about the mercy petition consulting his lawyers after receiving the copy of SC verdict. If Kamaruzzaman filed a mercy petition, the sentence cannot be executed until the final settlement of the issue, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said. “If he doesn’t place any mercy petition, the jail authority can execute the verdict any time. The jail code will not be applicable in this case as the trial of Kamaruzzaman was held under International Crimes Tribunals Act, 1973,” he said. The Jamaat leader was sentenced to death for his involvement in crimes against humanity during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971. Kamaruzzaman was left with no other option after the dismissal of his review petition, seeking a reconsideration of his death penalty by the Appellate Division of Supreme Court (SC) on April 6.Earlier, The four judges of the Appellate Division of Supreme Court (SC) — Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury – signed on the verdict of the review petition.Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury prepared the 36-page verdict of the review petition. With the signs of judges, judgment was sent to SC Registrar’s office. The Deputy Registrar of the SC Mehedi Hasan carried the copy to ICT. The Deputy Registrar of ICT Aftabuzzaman put his signature on the copy at around 4:45pm. The Tribunal then sent the copies of the Appellate Division’s judgment to Dhaka Central Jail, Home Ministry and the District Magistrate’s office of Dhaka. The Dhaka Central Jail authority read out the verdict of the review petition to Kamaruzaman and asked him if he would seek to move any mercy petition for presidential clemency. Kamaruzzaman then expressed his desire to meet his counsels and sought one day time to take his decision. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) on April 6 rejected the review of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman seeking a reconsideration of his death penalty for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.The Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Surenda Kumar Sinha, earlier heard the review petition on April 5.Kamaruzzaman, the Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami, was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on May 9, 2013. Later, the Supreme Court also upheld his death sentence in its verdict on November 3 last year. Kamaruzzaman file the review petition on March 5.
