Bangladesh News

The final hearing of long pending Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman assassination case will start today at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, as a bench was constituted yesterday for hearing the appeals filed by five convicts against their death sentences.

Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin constituted the five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Justice Md Tafazzal Islam for hearing the appeals. Other members of the bench are Justice Md Abdul Aziz, Justice BK Das, Justice Muzammel Hossain and Justice SK Sinha.

Five convicts–dismissed army personnel Syed Farooq-ur Rahman, Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed, AKM Mohiuddin Ahmed, and Bazlul Huda who are now behind bars–filed the appeals with the SC in October, 2007 against their death sentences pronounced by the High Court (HC).

The counsels for both the state and the convicts expressed satisfaction with the constitution of the bench for hearing the appeals.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that his office is fully prepared for hearing the appeals in Bangabandhu murder case.

Chief state counsel for this case Anisul Huq hoped that hearing of the appeals will be completed in 30 to 35 working days, as the hearing of the leave-to-appeal petitions filed by the five convicts had been completed in 26 working days at the Appellate Division.

Replying to a question about filing of an application by condemned prisoner Syed Farooq-ur Rahman requesting the SC not to allow the state counsels to place arguments during the hearing since they (state counsels) delayed in submitting the concise statements against the appeals, Anisul Huq said he will make reply of this petition to the court.

Barrister Abdullah-al Mamun, a lawyer for the convicts, said they will place arguments before the court on five points during the hearing.

The points are–whether Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed along with most of his family members as a result of a mutiny in the army, whether the evidence adduced by several witnesses are contradictory, whether delay in filing the First Information Report (FIR) is reasonable as held by the lower court, whether there is any conspiracy behind this murder and whether disposal of the death references of six accused out of 15 by the 3rd judge in the High Court was correct and legal, he said.

On August 23, Anisul Huq submitted five concise statements against the appeals as the summary of the case to the SC.

The next day, the SC chamber judge fixed October 5 as the date for the hearing on the appeals.