Dhaka Central Jail authorities yesterday received the death warrants issued against convicted war criminals Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury.
Jail Super Jahangir Alam said that they had received the death warrants in the afternoon. “The tribunal staff entered the jail with the warrants at 3:05pm and left the jail premises at 3:17pm,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
According to jail sources, Mujahid remained calm when the warrant had been read out to him. The former technocrat minister said that he would convey his opinion to the lawyers.
On the other hand, the death warrant for Salauddin reached Kashimpur High Security Jail last night. Jail authorities met Salauddin at 9:35pm and read out the death warrant to the convict, Subrata Kumar Bala, jail super of Kashimpur 1, said.
The International Crimes Tribunal signed the death warrants in the morning after the full text of the Appellate Division verdicts were produced before it, tribunal Registrar Md Shahidul Alam told the Dhaka Tribune.
The tribunal also sent copies of the death warrants to the home and law affairs secretaries, and the deputy commissioner of Dhaka district.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court released the full text of verdicts in the appeal cases of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mujahid and BNP leader Salauddin on Wednesday.
Lawyers for the death row convicts said that they would file review petitions within the stipulated 15 days.
If the review petitions are disposed of and their death sentences are upheld, the convicts will have the opportunity to seek mercy from the president admitting the crimes and meet the family members. If their mercy petition is rejected or they do not seek clemency, the government will execute the tribunal order by hanging them until death.
So far, the government has executed two war criminals following legal procedures. They are Jamaat leaders Abdul Quader Molla and Muhammad Kamaruzzaman. The apex court earlier commuted the death penalty of another Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee to imprisonment until death. None of the convicts admitted to committing the crimes.
The tribunal on October 1, 2013 sentenced Salauddin, son of Convention Muslim League leader Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, to death on four out of nine proven charges including the murder of Nutan Chandra Singha and genocides in Unosottor Para, Banik Para and Madhya Gohira during the 1971 Liberation War. Salauddin, 66, and his father had used their Goods Hill residence as a torture camp. He filed the appeal seeking acquittal on October 29 the same year.
On the other hand, al-Badr commander Mujahid, 69, filed the appeal on August 12, 2013 seeking acquittal from all the charges. Social welfare minister (technocrat) during the BNP-Jamaat alliance’s 2011-06 tenure, Mujahid was sentenced to death by the tribunal on July 17 the same year for the barbaric torture and killing of intellectuals at the fag end of the war.
Jamaat, labelled by the tribunal as criminal organisation for siding with the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971, has condemned the court order and demanded release of its Secretary General Mujahid.
