\\\'Time limit for Kamaruzzaman\\\'s mercy petition not over\\\'

Law Minister Anisul Huq has said that the time limit for asking presidential mercy by Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman has not yet been over. ‘We’ll have to take steps as per the verdict. According to Article 991 of the Jail Code, a convict has to be given 7 days time for filing presidential clemency immediately after informed about the verdict. He (Kamaruzzaman) was given the time. The 7 days are not over yet,’ Anisul Huq said on Saturday while talking to journalists after a seminar in the Supreme Court auditorium. Regarding Article 991 which says the convict should be informed about the verdict, he told journalists, ‘If you read the article, you’ll know about it. That does not mean the convict must be informed formally with written documents. It means, the convict has been informed, no order has been issued.’ Replying to another question the minister said, ‘So far I know, prison officials have told him (Kamaruzzaman) that his appeal was dismissed and his death sentence was upheld.’ The minister, however, said he did not know whether the execution will be implemented after Sunday midnight. On November 3, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld Kamaruzzaman’s death penalty awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal-1 for 1971 war crimes, according to a news agency.