Jail authorities still await full text of Kamaruzzaman verdict
Dhaka: The copy of the full verdict of the Supreme Court upholding the death sentence against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman for his crimes committed during the country’s Liberation War in 1971 may be sent to the jail authorities before his execution.
Talking to reporters, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam today said “if the short verdict copy was to be sent to the jail authorities, it would have been sent already. But it seems that the court will not send the short order copy.”
On the other hand, Dhaka Central Jail authorities are waiting to receive a copy of the Supreme Court verdict upholding the death sentence, after which they will take necessary next steps, sources at the jail authority said.
The jail authorities cannot execute Kamaruzzaman’s death sentence unless they get the copy of the SC verdict.
Former Jamaat leader Quader Molla - till now the only convicted war criminal from 1971 to have been executed on the order of the International Crimes Tribunal - was hanged in December 2013 after the jail authorities received the short copy of the verdict.
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Monday rejected Jamaat senior assistant secretary general M Kamaruzzaman’s review petition against its previous verdict upholding death penalty handed down by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 for his war crimes.
A four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha, dismissed the review petition.
Talking to reporters after the verdict, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said there was now no legal barrier to hanging Kamaruzzaman, as he had exhausted all legal options following yesterday’s verdict of the country’s apex court.