The judges of four-member Appellate Division of the Supreme Court have received the copy of War crimes convict Muhammad Kamaruzzaman's review rejection order for scrutiny.
Two SC judges received the draft copies of the 36-page judgement written by Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik, on Wednesday morning while two others received it on Tuesday evening.
Until Wednesday afternoon, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court did not release copy of its full verdict that upheld the death penalty of Muhammad Kamaruzzaman for the crimes against humanity he had committed during the country’s liberation struggle in 1971.
The Dhaka Central Jail authorities cannot execute Kamaruzzaman until they get the copy of the verdict signed by the judges of the four-member bench headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha, said a source in the apex court, adding that the copy might be signed Wednesday.
Farman Ali, senior jail superintendent, said they would take preparation once the verdict copy reaches the jail where Kamaruzzaman has been kept.
“We will inform him about the verdict and ask him if he want to seek presidential mercy,” Farman said on Tuesday evening.
If the president rejects the mercy petition or Kamaruzzaman does not seek the clemency admitting the crimes, the death sentences would be executed upon the government directives, the official said.
As per the jail code, a convict gets seven days to seek the presidential mercy after the jail authorities receive the death warrant and communicate it to the convict.
Kamaruzzaman’s counsel Shishir Manir said: “We are yet to get the copy. After the copy reaches the jail, he will consult with us and the family members on the matter of seeking presidential clemency.”
The Appellate Division bench dismissed the review petition filed by the Jamaat secretary general on Monday. Later in the day, 16 members of the family, including his wife and children, met him at the jail.
Following the pronouncement of the verdict, speculations ran high that Kamaruzzaman might be executed Monday night and it grew stronger when the jail authorities asked Kamaruzzaman’s family to meet him in the afternoon.
The jail authorities usually allow family members of a convict hours before execution.
The al-Badr leader has been in jail since July 29, 2010 when he was arrested in a case of hurting religious sentiment. He was shown arrested in the war crimes case on October 2 the same year.