M Faruque Hossain :The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld the death penalty to Jamaat leader Mir Quasem Ali rejecting his petition seeking review of its earlier verdict that upheld the death sentence. A five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order. With the rejection of the review plea, there is no legal bar to execute the judgment for his crimes against humanity during the War of Liberation in 1971, said Attorney General Mahbubey Alam. “There is just one step to execute the verdict. Mir Quasem Ali now can apply for a Presidential pardon admitting his crimes,” said the Attorney General. “There is no legal bar to execute the order if he does not seek for Presidential clemency or if the President denied the pardon for his crimes,” he said.The Attorney General also said seeking Presidential clemency is not a legal step rather this is a right as a citizen of the country.Khandker Mahbub Hossain, Chief Defence Counsel for Mir Quasem Ali said, the Appellate Division is the highest authority to deliver the judgment. The apex court has given its judgment to ensure justice. I do not have any comment on it. But, the future generation and the law experts can consider whether the judgment was right or wrong. “I myself repeatedly tried to make the court understand that my client was not the prime offender on the killing of young freedom fighter Jashim Uddin at the Dalim Hotel during the Liberation War. The document and the witnessed that the prosecution submitted to the court could not prove undoubtedly that Mir Quasem Ali himself killed Jashim Uddin,” he said. “I urged the court if the verdict is delivered once it cannot be changed. An innocent man cannot be punished on fabricated trial. The courts around the world consider the person whether he has any ability to do the same offence further or what is his social status. Mir Quasem Ali has contributed financially in different sectors in the country’s economy. He is an well-known personality in the country as well as in the globe. He was involved in social work and in media. He was not involved in any political activities. He came back to the country during investigation of the case. If he would be an offender he would not return to the country back,” he mentioned. On March 8, the Appellate Division pronounced a summary verdict upholding the death penalty of Mir Quasem Ali that a three-member panel of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-2) awarded death sentence. As per the verdict, Mir Quasem Ali was proved guilty in 10 charges out of 14. Barrister Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem, son of Mir Quasem Ali, filed the 68-page review petition with the Appellate Division challenging the verdict that handed down death penalty on June 19. The only option that remains now for Mir Quasem Ali is to seek Presidential clemency. The Jamaat leader will get reasonable time to seek Presidential mercy for his life, said the Attorney General. He, however, said the jail authorities will decide on the time frame that will give him as his last constitutional entitlement for seeking presidential reprieve. If he wished to file a petition for Presidential reprieve, the jail authorities will wail until his mercy petition is disposed of by the President, the AG explained. The government will set a date for executing Mir Quasem Ali soon after the President disposes of the mercy petition or denial of the petition.
