Appeal verdict unexpected but truth about Sayedee revealed, says Attorney General

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam has said the verdict of the appeal against Delwar Hossain Sayedee's death sentence has disappointed them, but the truth about the Jamaat-e-Islami leader has been revealed.

Mahbubey Alam (File photo)

The Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain on Wednesday reduced war crimes convict Sayedee’s sentence to ‘imprisonment till death’.

"We expected death sentence. We thought the tribunal's verdict would be upheld, which did not happen. I am feeling sad," he told reporters after the verdict.

He, however, found a silver lining in the top court finding the Jamaat number two guilty of rape and forcible conversion of Hindus. "The verdict cleared one thing to the people; Sayedee has been unmasked from being a religious leader.

"From now on, he will be known to people as a torturer and a rapist."

Asked whether the State would seek a review, Alam said: "I said earlier that a review was not applicable. Now I cannot say otherwise. The verdict came under a special law. There's no provision of a review."

The attorney general was asked whether they would file a plea if the court allowed and he said they would have to wait for the full verdict to decide about that.

Asked whether there were any shortcomings on the part of the prosecution, Alam said: "Once the full verdict is available we will understand whether the investigation was done properly or the investigators had been able to press the charges properly."

Sayedee's trial began in the International Crimes Tribunal 1 on Oct 3, 2011 and the verdict was issued on Feb 28, 2013.

He was the first person to be prosecuted for war crimes.