Two magistrates have entered Dhaka Central Jail to meet death-row war criminals Jamaat-e-Islami senior leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on Saturday.
The duo reached the jail around 9:30am to ask Mujahid and SQ Chy whether they would seek presidential clemency, say sources at the jail gate.
A Dhaka jail official, wishing anonymity, said the authorities would take further steps after the meeting between the magistrates and the death row convicts.
Earlier on Thursday, the Supreme Court released the full text of the review plea rejection through which the Appellate Division halted any legal bar to execute their death sentences for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.
Read more: Full order on Salauddin, Mujahid review released
On Wednesday, the SC upheld its previous verdicts on Mujahid and SQ Chy rejecting their pleas for reconsidering death penalties for their war crimes.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha dismissed the review petitions of the duo.
BNP leader Salauddin was awarded death penalty by the International Crimes Tribunal on October 1, 2013 for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Independence War.
Take a look: SC upholds Salauddin's death penalty * SC upholds Mujahid's death penalty
The Appellate Division upheld maximum punishment for the former MP from Chittagong’s Raozan on July 29, 2015.
He was arrested on December 16, 2010, and shown arrested in war crimes case on December 19 the same year. The tribunal indicted him on April 4, 2012.
On July 17, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal 2 ordered to hang Mujahid by the neck for the massacre of intellectuals including scientists, academics and journalists, and his involvement in the murder and torture of Hindus during the war.
He was found guilty in five out of the seven charges and sentenced to death in two of them.
The Jamaat leader was arrested on June 29, 2010 on charges of hurting religious sentiment and defying court orders. He was later shown arrested in the war crimes case on August 8. The tribunal indicted him on June 21, 2012.
Mujahid appealed against the tribunal verdict on August 11, 2013 and the hearing began on April 29 this year. The hearing continued for nine working days and ended on May 27.
On June 16, 2015, the Appellate Division delivered its judgement, upholding death for the Jamaat secretary general.