Counsels of war criminal and death row convict Mohammad Kamaruzzaman have said their client will ‘think and decide’ about whether to seek presidential clemency. Following a 30-minute discussion their client at the Dhaka Central Jail on Thursday, his key counsel Shishir Monir said, “He said he will think about the next step. He will inform the appropriate authorities of his decision after thinking over the matter.” “[Kamaruzzaman] has been read out the full verdict. He discussed with us various aspects of it. He asked us for clarifications, preceding cases and related laws. We, as his counsels, advised him on them as far as we could,” the former Islami Chhatra Shibir leader added. The five, Shishir Monir, Ehsan A Siddique, Mashiul Alam, Matiur Rahman Akhand and Maujahidul Islam Shahin, entered the prison complex around 10:48am on Thursday. When asked how long Kamaruzzaman will take to decide, he said, “He would take ‘reasonable’ time … He has taken time to analyse, time to think, when he will inform jail authorities… he will decide after talking with the authorities.” Inspector General of Prisons Syed Iftekhar Uddin on Wednesday said Kamaruzzaman had asked for more time and would decide on whether to seek mercy “after speaking to his lawyers”. The Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general was sentenced to death for atrocities he committed during Bangladesh’s Liberation War. The Appellate Division upheld the sentence describing his crimes as being “worse than Nazis”. Chief Justice SK Sinha-led bench last Monday rejected his plea for a review of the penalty the top court had handed him. It depends on the president whether or not to show mercy to the war criminal. –bdnews24.com
