The prosecution will appeal to enhance the sentence of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal — who were sentenced to life imprisonment in one charge of a crimes against humanity case related to the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement of July–August — to a death sentence.
Prosecutor Gazi MH Tamim shared this information on Thursday while responding to questions from journalists at the International Crimes Tribunal premises.
Tamim said: “On November 17, Tribunal-1 delivered a verdict sentencing former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death. We have received the full copy of the verdict. In one of the charges, Sheikh Hasina and Kamal were given life imprisonment, and in another charge, the death penalty. We are reviewing the verdict. However, we have made a preliminary decision to appeal for upgrading the life sentence to the death penalty.”
When asked when the appeal would be filed, he said: “An appeal must be filed within 30 days of the verdict. So we will do it within that period.”
Earlier, on November 17, along with life imprisonment, the tribunal also sentenced Sheikh Hasina and Kamal to death by hanging. It also ordered the confiscation of all their property within the country. In addition, former IGP Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun — who testified as a state witness — was sentenced to five years in prison.
The three-member judicial panel of Tribunal-1, led by Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mojumdar, delivered the verdict. The full verdict was published nine days later. As a result, Hasina, Kamal, and Mamun will have to file their appeals within the next 30 days.