Punishment to killers still remains uncertain

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Justice could not be delivered in the killing of four national leaders in jail even in three decades and handing of punishment to the killers still remains uncertain.

There is little possibility that the hearing will begin soon on the death reference of the jail killing case pending with the High Court (HC) for the last three years after a trial court sentenced three accused to death on October 20, 2004.

Today the nation observes the 31st death anniversary of the four national leaders and Liberation War heroes.

Syed Nazrul Islam, acting president of Bangladesh government in exile in 1971, Tajuddin Ahmed, prime minister, M Mansur Ali, finance minister, and AHM Qamaruzzaman, minister for home affairs, relief and rehabilitation, of the same government, were assassinated in Dhaka Central Jail on November 3, 1975.

It is possible to dispose of the case quickly if the government initiates moves and the court responds accordingly as the death reference case of seven Islamist militants was disposed in a very short time.

Following a government initiative in 2006, the HC allowed preparing of the paper book (history of the case) of the militant case and had fixed the case for quick hearing by taking it up on the list of over 500 pending death references.

The families of the four national leaders hope that the present caretaker government will take initiatives to complete the legal steps required to dispose of the case soon.

The four leaders were killed on this day in 1975, only 79 days after usurpers in a desperate bid killed Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members on August 15. The day is known as the Jail Killing Day.

A murder case in respect of the jail killings was filed with Lalbagh Police Station on November 4, 1975, but the then government halted the trial process by promulgating an ordinance that indemnified the assassins. The investigation and trial of the killings remained blocked for about 21 years until the law was scrapped during the 1996-2001 rule of Awami League.

The trial was also delayed due to judicial tangles.

But finally, in 2004 a Dhaka court sentenced three to death and 12 others to life imprisonment for abetting the murderers and acquitted five persons.

The family members of the four national leaders rejected the verdict and described it as “farcical” and “politically motivated”. They also said the government’s interference in the case denied them justice.

Acquittal of five accused by the trial court raised questions. Former chief prosecutor of the case advocate Anisul Huq resigned after former BNP lawmaker KM Obaidur Rahman and four other accused interfered in the process.

“I saw the accused interfering with the court of justice. They gave directions to the court. So, I very well understood I will not get justice,” Huq told The Daily Star yesterday.

Obaidur, Shah Moazzem Hossain, Nurul Islam Monzoor, Taheruddin Thakur and the then additional foreign secretary Khairuzzaman, who were all freed on bail soon after the BNP-led four-party coalition came to power, were relieved of the charges.

Those to walk the gallows are resalder (retd) Muslemuddin, dafadar (dismissed) Marfat Ali Shah and dafadar (dismissed) Abdul Hashem Mridha. All have been on the run.

Three of the 12 accused awarded life term–Lt Col (dismissed) Syed Faruk Rahman, Lt Col (retd) Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan and Major (retd) Bazlul Huda–were also sentenced to death in the Bangabandhu murder case.

Others are Lt Col (dismissed) Khondaker Abdur Rashid, Lt Col (relieved) Shariful Haq Dalim, Lt Col (retd) SHMB Noor Chowdhury, Major (Retd) AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, Lt Col (retd) AM Rashed Chowdhury, Major (relieved) Ahmed Shariful Hossain, Captain (retd) Abdul Majed, Captain (relieved) Kismat Hasem and Captain (relieved) Nazmul Hossain.

“The persons acquitted were the masterminds behind the conspiracy for killing,” AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, son of martyred AHM Qamaruzzaman, yesterday told The Daily Star.

“A total of 26 leaders from different levels of the Awami League were in Dhaka jail when the four leaders were taken to a room and killed at night. So, it is clear that the four were killed to create a long-lasting vacuum in the leadership of the country after the killing of Bangabandhu,” he added.

“We [the families of four leaders] knew that the verdict would be influenced as beneficiaries of the 1975 killings were in power at that time and justice could not be expected from them,” said Khairuzzaman.

According to laws, HC approval is required to execute death sentences given by the trial court and it is the responsibility of the state to initiate the move in the higher court for getting the approval. The HC serially holds the hearings on the death reference of the pending cases.

If the HC death reference benches maintain the serial in holding the hearings, it will take many years to hear the jail killing case.

Over 500 death reference cases have been pending with the HC at present. The trial court gave judgment in nine of those cases in 2003, in 122 cases in 2004, in 175 cases in 2005, in 112 cases in 2006 and in 81 cases so far in 2007.

Supreme Court (SC) sources said hearing on the death reference cases of 2004 has begun in the court and the jail killing case is at the bottom of the list. None can say specifically how long it will take to begin the hearing of the case maintaining the serial.

The paper book of a death reference case must be prepared for the initiation of hearing on the case.

SC Registrar Ikteder Ahmed yesterday told The Daily Star, “The work for preparing paper book of the jail killing case is going on. So far as I know it will be completed in the next three months. Then the case will be ready for hearing and the hearing will begin according to the serial.”

Advocate Anisul Huq said, “I hope that the case will be ready [for hearing] before the next anniversary of jail killing.

“I hope the case will be heard as soon as the paper book is ready because of the case’s importance in the context of the rule of law and its impact on the political history of Bangladesh,” he added.

Huq also said, “The judgment of the sessions judge’s court contains many flaws and I hope these will become clear and be corrected when the High Court considers the case.”

Khairuzzaman said they hoped that the present government, which has taken many groundbreaking steps since assuming power, would also initiate a process to begin the hearing on the jail killing case. “But we are deeply hurt as nothing was done in the last 10 months,” he added.

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