Defence counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain has said the state can commute any punishment, no matter the convict seeks clemency or not.
He said: “The state can commute any punishment if it wants, no matter whether the convict seeks mercy or not.”
He made the statement while giving his immediate reaction over the Supreme Court's orders that upheld the death penalty of war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid.
Replying to a query whether the death row war criminals will seek presidential clemency, he said: “It can only be said after talking to Salauddin and Mujahid as they will decide it.”
Earlier in the day, the Supreme court upheld its previous verdicts on Salauddin and Mujahid, rejecting his plea for reviewing their death penalties for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.
On October 14, Mujahid and Salauddin sought review of the SC verdict that upheld their capital punishment in June and July after hearing their appeals challenging the war crimes tribunals’ verdicts.
In July 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal handed down death sentence to 67-year-old Jamaat leader Muhajid and also jailed him for life and sentenced him to five years in prison in five separate charges for war crimes.
The tribunal on October 1, 2013, sentenced 66-year-old Salahuddin to capital punishment for the murder of Natun Chandra Sinha, Awami League leader Mozaffar Ahmed and his son; and two acts of genocide in Sultanpur Banikpara and Unasattarpara villages in Raozan where 74 villagers were massacred.
On June 16, 2015, the Appellate Division delivered its judgement, upholding death for the Jamaat secretary general. Salauddin’s maximum punishment too was on July 29, 2015.