BNP leader Moudud Ahmed on Wednesday asked the government not to execute the verdict of war crimes convict Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah until his review petition is settled at the Supreme Court. The SC awarded death penalty to the Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general on September 17 overhauling a lower court life imprisonment for his wartime offences during country’s Liberation War in 1971. The Jamaat leader will file a review petition against his death penalty after getting the certified copy of the SC verdict, his lawyers told the media earlier. “The government has started the process for executing Quader Mollah depriving him of filing a review partition against the Supreme Court verdict,” the BNP leader said at a press conference organised by Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum, a platform of pro-BNP lawyers, at the south hall of Supreme Court Bar Association. “Article 105 of the constitution ensures the right of every citizen to move a review petition against any SC verdict,” said Moudud, also a standing committee member of the BNP, while reading out his written statement at the briefing. He however did not reply any question from journalists after his statement. “We want to see that the constitutional provision which is a supreme law of the country will be executed,” he added. The government decision to amend the International Crimes Tribunal Act (ICT) – 1973 to ensure the right of government to file an appeal after the trial court delivered a verdict is unprecedented, Moudud claimed. He also termed the SC verdict awarding death penalty in place of a lower court judgement handing down life imprisonment as exceptional. “We don’t believe that the trial proceedings of this case have been completed maintaining the conventional law and international standard,” Moudud said in his statement. “Therefore, the trial proceeding of this case has become questionable internationally,” he added. The case against Quader Mollah was filed to execute the political interest of the government, he alleged. Pro-BNP lawyers Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, Zainul Abedin, Rafiqul Islam Mia, Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Badruddoza Badal were present among others at the press conference. On February 5, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Mollah to life term imprisonment for committing crimes against humanity in 1971.
Posted on: Wed, 25 Sep 2013 14:01:41 +0000
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