Shahbagh rejects Sayedee verdict

Ganajagaran Mancha has begun protests at Dhaka’s Shahbagh rejecting a court verdict that reduced war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayedee’s death penalty to 'imprisonment until death'.

The Supreme Court's Appellate Division on Wednesday morning ruled that the top Jamaat leader will spend the rest of his natural life in prison.

The verdict follows Sayadee's appeal against the verdict by International Crimes Tribunal that awarded him death penalty in February last year.

Activists of the Ganajagaran Mancha -- a secular, anti-fundamentalist platform that originated during the protests against top Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah’s ICT verdict last year -- erupted in protest once again after hearing the court’s decision on Sayedee.

Its spokesperson Imran H Sarkar said the justice has been compromised and felt there was an attempt to reinstate war criminals.

“Sayedee is a marked war criminal. The charges brought against him have been proven. This verdict does not reflect the desire of the people … justice has been undone, the people will not accept this!”

Mancha supporters gathered at Shahbagh to take out processions on the eve of the verdict on Tuesday.

Sarkar had hoped that Sayedee’s death penalty would be upheld.

On Feb 28 last year, the International Crimes Tribunal had ordered Sayedee’s execution for his involvement in crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

Of the 20 charges against him, Sayedee was given the death penalty for two – the murder of Ibrahim Kutti and Bisabali, and for setting fire to Hindu households in Pirojpur district in 1971.

Six other charges were also proven beyond doubt but no sentencing followed as he had already been given the death penalty.

After the ICT last year ordered Sayedee’s execution, Jamaat supporters across Bangladesh went berserk.

Over 70 people, including policemen, were killed and over 200 injured in the violence. Numerous vehicles, houses, shops, and Hindu communities were also attacked, vandalised and torched.

Sayedee had, on Mar 28 last year, appealed against the death sentence, seeking acquittal.