The Dhaka Times Desk The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid accused of human rights crimes in 1971. The court issued a summary judgment on Tuesday morning.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Jamaat leader Ali Ahsan Mujahid accused of human rights crimes in 1971. The court issued a summary judgment on Tuesday morning. The court upheld the death sentence awarded to him for killing the intellectual.
Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid has already been brought to Dhaka Central Jail for the appeal verdict in the case of crimes against humanity. He was brought yesterday Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the police administration has taken effective steps to keep the law and order situation normal based on this verdict. Inspector General of Police AKM Shahidul Haque said that the police is on alert so that no one can create chaos based on Mujahid's verdict.
A four-member appellate bench headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha announced the verdict on Tuesday morning. The other three members of this bench are - Justice Nazmun Ara Sultana, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Hasan Faiz Siddiqui.
It is to be noted that this is the first time that a politician serving in the cabinet of Bangladesh is going to be hanged for the war crimes of 1971.
How the trial process begins
After Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid was arrested on 29 June 2010 in a case of hurting religious sentiments, he was arrested on 2 August on charges of crimes against humanity. After the hearing of the case, Mujahid's trial began on June 21, 2012 in the tribunal through the formulation of charges.
On July 17, 2013, the tribunal gave the death sentence to the leader of this Jamaat, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid. Mujahid appealed against the verdict on August 11, 2013.
Although the state did not appeal, it participated in the hearing and presented arguments to uphold the sentence. After the hearing started on April 29, the four judges of the bench took the hearing on the appeal for 9 days including presentation of arguments on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam concluded the arguments for the state. Assistant Attorney General Md. Rashir Ahmed was with him. Lawyers Khandkar Mahbub Hossain and SM Shajahan heard for the accused in the court. Shishir Monir was also with them.
This is the fourth verdict
Out of the total 19 cases decided by the tribunal so far, 13 have been appealed against the verdict. Abul Kalam Azad, Chowdhury Muinuddin, Ashrafuzzaman Khan and Zahid Hossain Khokon alias Khokon Razakar of Faridpur who were sentenced to death did not get this opportunity as they were absconding. Jatiya Party's former vice chairman Abdul Jabbar, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, could not appeal for the same reason. And the final verdict has come in four cases including this case of Mujahid.
On November 3, 2014, the Appellate Division upheld the maximum sentence for Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, and he was hanged on April 11 this year.
On September 17, 2014, the Appellate Division upheld the death sentence of Jamaat's Naib Amir Delawar Hossain Saeedee and the death sentence of the party's Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Mollah just a year before. Quader Mollah was hanged on the night of December 12, 2013.
On the other hand, Jamaat's former Amir Ghulam Azam and BNP's former minister Abdul Alim died during the appeal hearing.
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