The full verdict of the Supreme Court, rejecting the review petition of condemned war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami, was read out to the Jamaat leader at Dhaka Central Jail on Monday evening. DIG (Prisons) Golam Haider, Senior Jail Super of the Dhaka Central Jail Jahangir Kabir, jailer Nesar Alam and deputy jailer Lavlu Miah entered the condemned cell of the jail, where Nizami has been kept, around 7:30pm with a copy of the verdict, said jail sources. Later, Jahangir Kabir read out the verdict to Nizami. Earlier, the full verdict of the Supreme Court rejecting the review petition of the condemned war criminal reached the Dhaka Central Jail in the evening. Senior Jail Super Jahangir Kabir of the Dhaka Central Jail received the copy of the verdict sent from the International Crimes Tribunal around 7:05 pm, jail sources said. Earlier in the day, the verdict travelled to the International Crimes Tribunal after the Supreme Court released the full text of its verdict rejecting the review petition of the Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer, thus upholding the death penalty awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal. The written verdict was released after the four judges — Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Foez Siddique — of the Appellate Division bench signed the copies of the verdicts turning down the petition to review its earlier order upholding the death sentence for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. With presidential clemency the only option left for him to avail of, a speculation is around that Nizami is set to soon meet the same fate as three of his fellow erstwhile leaders of Jamaat — Abdul Quader Mollah, AHM Kamaruzzaman, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed — and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury met. Earlier, Nizami was shifted to Dhaka Central Jail from Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur on Sunday night. Meanwhile, security in and around the Dhaka Central Jail beefed up on Monday. On May 5, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court rejected the petition of Nizami seeking review of its earlier verdict upholding the death penalty awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal. On March 15, the ICT issued a death warrant for Nizami for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971 after the apex court released the full text of its verdict upholding his death penalty. On January 6, a four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by the Chief Justice, upheld the death sentence of the Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer. The Appellate Division upheld the ICT-1 order sentencing Nizami to death for the wartime crimes, including genocide and murder of intellectuals. The apex court upheld his death penalty on three of the four counts, while he was acquitted in one. On October 29, 2014, the ICT-1 sentenced Nizami to death for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. Nizami filed an appeal with the SC on November 23, 2014 challenging the death sentence and claimed himself innocent while refuting all the charges. –Dhaka, May 9 (UNB)
