Staff Reporter :The Supreme Court on Wednesday set March 8 for delivering its verdict on appeal filed by war criminal and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali challenging his death penalty.The five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha fixed the date after concluding appeal hearing of the convicted war criminal.Earlier, the court set March 2 for delivering the verdict. After a brief period of time, the bench shifted the verdict to March 8.Additional Registrar Md Sabbir Foyez told The New Nation, “The date has been changed from March 2 to March 8 due to unavoidable circumstances.”Attorney General Mahbubey Alam prayed to the Appellate Division to uphold Mir Quasem’s death penalty – awarded to him by a war crimes tribunal on November 2, 2014.Meanwhile, Khandker Mahbub Hossain, chief defence counsel for the war criminal , prayed to the apex court for acquittal saying that the state counsels failed to prove the charges. The Appellate Division started hearing on his appeal on February 9. It is the seventh appeals case heard by the top court.The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on November 2, 2014 sentenced Quasem to death after finding him guilty on 10 charges for abducting, confining and torturing people during the Liberation War.Around four weeks later, he filed an appeal with the SC, challenging the tribunal’s verdict.
