Verdict on Mir Quasem's review plea Tuesday

A five-member Appellate Division panel headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha fixed the date on Sunday afternoon. The same bench had began hearing the review plea filed by Mir Quasem on August 24. A top Jamaat-e-Islami leader and financier, Quasem filed the review petition after the apex court published its full verdict and the International Crimes Tribunal issued the death warrant against him on June 6. The court first set June 21 for the hearing. The date was deferred until July 25 and again by a month following defence petitions seeking time for preparation. The war crimes tribunal sentenced Quasem, now 64, to death on November 3, 2014 on two charges including killing seven people after abduction in Chittagong. He was also awarded a total of 72-year imprisonment on eight other proven charges of abduction, conspiracy and planning. Later, the Appellate Division upheld the death sentence on March 9. Quasem’s family and his party terms the judgement a “judicial killing.” A key player behind the formation of notorious al-Badr force in Chittagong during the Liberation War, Quasem had set up makeshift torture camps at different places in the port city including Daleem Hotel in Andorkilla area. He was known as “Bangali Khan” (Khan referred to as Pakistani occupation forces) for his atrocities. According to the government, Quasem has also spent a large amount of money to appoint US-based lobbyists to make the war crimes trials controversial.