The Supreme Court (SC) on October 31 upheld the death penalty of Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) Assistant Secretary General ATM Azharul Islam (67) for his involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, reports The Daily Star. A four-member bench of the SC’s Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, delivered the verdict around five years after the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) handed down capital punishment to Azhar for the crimes committed in Rangpur. Following the verdict, he now can file a petition with the SC seeking a review of the judgment. The petition will have to be filed within 15 days after the convict receives the certified copy of the verdict, according to court sources. If the SC rejects the review petition, Azhar can seek President’s clemency. If the President does not grant the mercy, the SC verdict will be executed.
Meanwhile, some 29 appeals filed by the convicted war criminals against their death sentences are still pending with the Appellate Division of the SC, reports The Daily Star on November 1. The division has so far disposed of only eight such appeals in the last six years. The eight war criminals whose appeals have already been settled by the top court are JeI Ameer (Chief) Motiur Rahman Nizami, its Secretary General Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mojaheed, and its leaders Delawar Hossain Sayedee, Muhammad Kamaruzaman, Abdul Quader Mollah, Mir Quasem Ali and ATM Azharul Islam and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury. Among them, Nizami, Mojaheed, Kamaruzzaman, Quader Mollah, Mir Quasem Ali and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury have been executed after the apex court has dismissed their review petitions against its verdicts confirming their death sentences. The list of convicted war criminals whose appeals are now in the pipeline includes former state minister of HM Ershad’s government Syed Mohammad Qaisar, expelled Awami League leader of Brahmanbaria Mobarak Hossain, Jamaat leader Maulana Abdus Sobhan, Azizur Rahman from Gaibandha and Saifuddin Ahmed former Noakhali.