Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, the top law officer of the country, has expressed hope that several appeals moved by the convicted war criminals with the Appellate Division will be disposed of this year.
Currently, appeals of eight war criminals are pending with the Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice SK Sinha.
The appeals of Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, both given death penalty by the International Crimes Tribunal, are now on the cause list for hearing. Arguments on these appeals would begin within the next few weeks, he said.
The six other appellants are Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and its leaders Mir Quasem Ali, ATM Azharul Islam and Abdus Subhan; expelled Awami League leader Mobarak Hossain; and former state minister of HM Ershad’s government Syed Mohammad Qaisar.
Mahbubey said the Supreme Court could not hear more appeals due to its long vacation. He, however, expressed satisfaction over the current pace of disposals.
The special bench has so far disposed of three cases. Verdict in the last case, filed by executed war criminal Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, was given on November 3 last year.
The attorney general welcomed the execution of Jamaat leader Kamruzzaman on Saturday night. “But, I feel sad for [Delawar Hossain] Sayedee’s verdict. We hoped that he would be sentenced to death. It happened due to weakness of the prosecution and the investigation agency,” he added.
Delawar Hossain Sayedee, another top leader of Jamaat was given death penalty by the tribunal. But the Appellate Division commuted his sentence to life-term imprisonment. Earlier, the bench upheld the death sentence of Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Molla and he was executed on December 12, 2013.
