Death warrants issued against Bangabandhu killers
Monday, 4 January 2010
A Dhaka court Sunday issued death warrants against five of the 12 condemned ex-army officers for the August 15, 1975 assassination of Bangladesh's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with most of his family members in a military putsch, reports BSS.
"Dhaka's District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Abdul Gafur has signed the death warrants," a court official familiar with the development said adding that the warrants were immediately sent to the district magistrate and the jail super in "red envelopes" as prescribed under the Jail Code.
The jail code demands the death warrants to be executed in between 21st and 28th day from the day it is signed.
The death warrants were issued more than two weeks after the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court rejected appeals of the five who are now in jail.
The court sources said Gafur signed the warrants as the court officials submitted the papers in a folder in presence of the public prosecutors.
The five convicts are sacked lieutenant colonels Syed Faruq Rahman, Sultan Shariar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed (artillery), AKM Mohiuddin and sacked major Bazlul Huda.
According to the constitution, the death row convicts were entitled to an opportunity to seek a review of the verdict at the Appellate Division itself within 30 days, and if rejected they would have a last chance to seek presidential clemency within subsequent seven days.
But senior lawyers and legal experts said those would not bar the counting of days for the execution as if the review petitions were accepted the death warrants would automatically be suspended.
Defence lawyers earlier said they had planned to file review petitions against the judgment within the stipulated time.
The apex court on December 17 signed a full judgment of the case clearing ways for execution of the 11 convicted ex-army officers for the August 15 carnage when a total of 28 people, including domestic staff were killed.
A group of junior army officers stormed the private residence of Bangabandhu, father of incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka's Dhanmondi area in a pre-dawn swoop that had also toppled his post-independence Awami League government.
Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived the putsch as they were abroad at that time. But the delayed trial started only when the party under Hasina's leadership returned to power in 1996 general elections after 21 years in political wilderness and scrapped an indemnity law that was enacted by the post 1975 governments to protect the killers.
The subsequent governments also rewarded them with diplomatic assignments abroad or allowed them to float political parties.
Dhaka District and Sessions' judge Kazi Golam Rasul originally awarded 15 accused, all former army officers, with capital punishment in 1998 with the indictment of 20 accused.
The case was then referred to a two-member High Court bench for mandatory death reference as well as appeal hearing where the senior judge confirmed the punishment of 10 of them and the companion judge upheld the conviction of all the 15.
The split judgment required the case to be referred to a third judge in a second bench of the High Court that confirmed the death penalties of 12 of the accused. But the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court began the final appeal hearing on October 5, eight and a half years after the High Court verdict and two years after it granted the leave to appeal prayers by five of the convicts.
The case was long been pending for want of necessary number of "competent" judges as several of the incumbent apex court justices earlier were involved in the case during its High Court stage hearing while the past Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) regime of ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia took no attempt for its disposal appointing extra judges.
President Zillur Rahman appointed four judges at the apex court in July removing the bar.
Of the convicts three - sacked lieutenant colonels Syed Faruq Rahman, Sultan Shahriyar Rashid Khan and Mahiuddin Ahmed (artillery) - faced the trial in person at the lower court while two others - sacked major Bazlul Huda and sacked AKM Mohiuddin (lancer) - were returned from Thailand and the United States at different times afterwards and they are now in jail.
The six fugitives are sacked lieutenant colonels Abdur Rashid, Shariful Haq Dalim, Noor Chowdhury, Rashed Chowdhury, captain Mazed and risaldar Moslem Uddin. Dhaka has already launched a diplomatic campaign to bring them back home also engaging the Interpol.
The foreign office earlier confirmed the death of ex-lieutenant colonel Aziz Pasha while he was hiding in Zimbabwe.
"Dhaka's District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Abdul Gafur has signed the death warrants," a court official familiar with the development said adding that the warrants were immediately sent to the district magistrate and the jail super in "red envelopes" as prescribed under the Jail Code.
The jail code demands the death warrants to be executed in between 21st and 28th day from the day it is signed.
The death warrants were issued more than two weeks after the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court rejected appeals of the five who are now in jail.
The court sources said Gafur signed the warrants as the court officials submitted the papers in a folder in presence of the public prosecutors.
The five convicts are sacked lieutenant colonels Syed Faruq Rahman, Sultan Shariar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed (artillery), AKM Mohiuddin and sacked major Bazlul Huda.
According to the constitution, the death row convicts were entitled to an opportunity to seek a review of the verdict at the Appellate Division itself within 30 days, and if rejected they would have a last chance to seek presidential clemency within subsequent seven days.
But senior lawyers and legal experts said those would not bar the counting of days for the execution as if the review petitions were accepted the death warrants would automatically be suspended.
Defence lawyers earlier said they had planned to file review petitions against the judgment within the stipulated time.
The apex court on December 17 signed a full judgment of the case clearing ways for execution of the 11 convicted ex-army officers for the August 15 carnage when a total of 28 people, including domestic staff were killed.
A group of junior army officers stormed the private residence of Bangabandhu, father of incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka's Dhanmondi area in a pre-dawn swoop that had also toppled his post-independence Awami League government.
Sheikh Hasina and her younger sister Sheikh Rehana survived the putsch as they were abroad at that time. But the delayed trial started only when the party under Hasina's leadership returned to power in 1996 general elections after 21 years in political wilderness and scrapped an indemnity law that was enacted by the post 1975 governments to protect the killers.
The subsequent governments also rewarded them with diplomatic assignments abroad or allowed them to float political parties.
Dhaka District and Sessions' judge Kazi Golam Rasul originally awarded 15 accused, all former army officers, with capital punishment in 1998 with the indictment of 20 accused.
The case was then referred to a two-member High Court bench for mandatory death reference as well as appeal hearing where the senior judge confirmed the punishment of 10 of them and the companion judge upheld the conviction of all the 15.
The split judgment required the case to be referred to a third judge in a second bench of the High Court that confirmed the death penalties of 12 of the accused. But the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court began the final appeal hearing on October 5, eight and a half years after the High Court verdict and two years after it granted the leave to appeal prayers by five of the convicts.
The case was long been pending for want of necessary number of "competent" judges as several of the incumbent apex court justices earlier were involved in the case during its High Court stage hearing while the past Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) regime of ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia took no attempt for its disposal appointing extra judges.
President Zillur Rahman appointed four judges at the apex court in July removing the bar.
Of the convicts three - sacked lieutenant colonels Syed Faruq Rahman, Sultan Shahriyar Rashid Khan and Mahiuddin Ahmed (artillery) - faced the trial in person at the lower court while two others - sacked major Bazlul Huda and sacked AKM Mohiuddin (lancer) - were returned from Thailand and the United States at different times afterwards and they are now in jail.
The six fugitives are sacked lieutenant colonels Abdur Rashid, Shariful Haq Dalim, Noor Chowdhury, Rashed Chowdhury, captain Mazed and risaldar Moslem Uddin. Dhaka has already launched a diplomatic campaign to bring them back home also engaging the Interpol.
The foreign office earlier confirmed the death of ex-lieutenant colonel Aziz Pasha while he was hiding in Zimbabwe.