A total of 138 out of the 152 convicts, who were sentenced to death earlier this month in the BDR carnage case have appealed against the verdict in the High Court (HC) through the Dhaka Central Jail authority.
Senior Superintendent of Dhaka Central Jail Forman Ali said the convicts who are currently in jail filed separate applications for submission to the HC registrar on November 8. The jail authority forwarded their applications to the court on Sunday.
Of the 152 convicts, 138 are in custody while 14 are on the run.
After receiving the copies, however, HC officials said the appeals would not be proceeded for hearing without copies of the judgement.
The jail authorities said they could not attach the copies as they were waiting to receive the copies requested.
According to jail sources, in their applications the convicts claimed that they were not involved in the February 25-26, 2009 munity at the Pilkhana BDR Headquarters, in which 74 people, including 57 army officers, were brutally murdered.
“The convicts have appealed following the court’s verdict, which said they had to appeal within seven days of the pronouncing of the judgement. I have heard that the convicts will appeal through their lawyers as early as Sunday,” the jail senior superintendent said.
Supreme Court registrar AKM Shamsul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that the applications have reached the despatch section of the jail’s appeal section.
Dhaka metropolitan Third Additional Session’s Court Judge Md Akhtaruzzaman on November 5 sentenced the 152 to death and 411 others to terms of imprisonment ranging from three years to life.