Staff Reporter :The Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence awarded to Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. A five-member full bench of Appellate Division of the SC headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha pronounced the short verdict on Tuesday morning. The other judges of the bench were Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Bazlur Rahman.Hours after delivering the verdict, the authorities informed it to Mir Quasem, a member of Jamaat-e-Islami’s central executive council and founding President of the Islami Chhatra Shibir. Prasanta Kumar Banik, Superintendent of Kashimpur Central Jail-2, said that Mir Quasem was formally informed of the verdict at noon. He looked normal, he added. The former Al-Badr leader has been detained in condemned cell number 40 in the prison.The apex court upheld the death sentence of Mir Quasem in one of the two charges that were handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) earlier. However, it acquitted him of three other charges, including one from a death penalty. His death penalty was upheld for murder of a freedom fighter Jasim and five other people in Chittagong. Later their bodies were concealed in Karnaphuli River. He was acquitted from the charges of murder of Ranjit Das and Tuntu Sen, abduction, two counts of abduction, confinement and torture of Saifuddin Khan and Harunur Rashid Khan. Mir Quasem, 63, considered by many as a top financier of the party, was arrested from the office of Daily Naya Diganta in the city on June 17 in 2012. On September 5 in 2013, he was charged with 14 charges and convicted of 10 charges and acquitted of the rest four charges. The ICT-2 pronounced the penalty on November 2 in 2014.The Jamaat leader appealed against the tribunal’s verdict on November 30. The Appellate Division started hearing the appeal on February 9 in 2016. On February 24, the apex court fixed Tuesday for delivering the verdict. Handing down verdict in Mir Quasem’s appeal was delayed by sometimes as court staff mistakenly dropped the appeal from Tuesday’s cause-list. Later, the verdict was delivered preparing a supplementary cause-list.After the verdict, the government, the ruling Awami League and the Shahbagh Ganojagaran Mancha expressed satisfaction over the judgement. In his reaction, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said, “We have got an expected judgement. The continuity of war crimes trial would have been hampered if Mir Quasem’s death sentence was not upheld, he said.”Law Minister Anisul Huq told reporters that both the government and public are satisfied with the verdict. The Minister said that the defense counsel can file a review within fifteen days, but that will be counted after the court releases the full copy of the verdict. If they do not wish to file a review, then the prosecutors will follow necessary procedures after those fifteen days.Awami League Joint General Secretary General Mahbub-ul-Alam hanif said that the party welcomes the SC verdict and demands quick execution. “The judgment fulfilled the nation’s expectations,” he said.Activists of the Gonojagoron Mancha gathered since morning ahead of the apex court’s sitting. Hailing the verdict, its spokesperson Imran H Sarker said that the judgement is an achievement of their movement.
