The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday deferred the war crimes appeals case of death row convict Delawar Hossain Sayedee until April 1.
The five-member top court bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain passed the order following a plea by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.
The top law officer of the country told the court that as per the deposition of two eye-witnesses – Muken Chakrabarty and Sukharanjan Bali, Sayedee had been involved in the killing of Bisabali.
So, the International Crimes tribunal 1 had handed down the death penalty rightly for the Jamaat-e-Islami leader, he argued.
On April 1, Mahbubey Alam would place his arguments on the charge of killing Bisabali. Assistant Attorney General Bashir Ahmed assisted him during the hearing while SM Shahjahan represented Sayedee.
Arguments in the case began on January 28. The defence completed its part of arguments but would rebut the arguments made by the government, said Shahjahan.
The International Crimes Tribunal 1 gave death penalty to Sayedee on February 28 last year. The Jamaat leader on March 28 lodged an appeal with the apex court seeking acquittal. The government also registered an appeal to specify the punishment in all the six charges that were proved at the tribunal.
