War criminal Mir Quasem Ali yesterday dealt the death sentence handed down to him with overt arrogance, swearing “Shaitan” inside the courtroom, terming the verdict “directed” and showing the customary victory sign before leaving.
He was brought to the International Crimes Tribunal in the capital from the Kashimpur jail in Gazipur around 9:15am. He could be seen reading newspapers inside the court lockup while waiting before the court kicked off proceedings.
Police took him to the dock around 10:40am. Clad in a sky blue shirt, black trousers and black shoes, a stone ring in the middle finger of his right hand and a silver wrist watch on the other hand, the war criminal appeared to be in a really good mood.
Right after he took his seat on the dock, he said something to his son Mir Ahmed Bin Quasem, who was part of the defence attorney team.
Mir Quasem sat on his chair in the dock with his legs crossed and relaxed. A little later, he asked one of the policemen, standing beside him outside the dock, whether the judges had come to the court.
The judges of the second International Crimes Tribunal, led by Justice Obaidul Hasan, came to the courtroom at 10:50am.
Soon after, a courtroom attendant unknowingly came in front of the dock. Flipping his left hand, Mir Quasem drew the attention of a policemen and asked him to clear up the place so that he could see the judges.
During the 45 minutes that the verdict was being read out, the war criminal sat on the dock mostly with his legs crossed. He listened to the verdict carefully. Sometimes he nodded his head in disagreement with certain sections.
However, his patience started receding as the verdict was nearing climax. At one point, he sat with his legs straight up, shaking the left one nervously.
He gave a scornful smile when Justice Obaidul Hasan said that they had reached a unanimous decision on nine of the charges.
When the tribunal announced death penalty for abducting and killing seven people, Quasem quipped: “…devils…devils…devils…devils.”
When the policemen were taking him away from the dock after verdict delivery ended, he shouted again: “False events…False witnesses…Black law…Hatched-up verdict. Truth will win, false will be defeated soon..soon.”
Around 12:40pm, when he was being taken on to a prison van, he waved his to the people that had gathered on the tribunal premises.
Then he showed the customary victory sign with the index and middle fingers of his right hand which was reminiscent of executed war criminal Abdul Quader Molla.
Quasem had a smile on his face to accompany the gesture.