Lawyers seek permission to meet convicted war criminal Mujahid to discuss review petition

War criminal Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid’s lawyers have asked the prison authorities for permission to discuss with him a possible petition to review the Appellate Division’s final verdict that upheld his death sentence.

The death-row convict’s lawyer Shishir Monir told bdnews24.com he and four other counsels will meet Mujahid at the Dhaka Central Jail at 10:30am on Saturday.

“We will discuss the recently released full verdict and the grounds of the review petition,” he said on Friday.

Senior Jail Superintendent Md Jahangir Kabir also confirmed bdnews24.com that Mujahid’s lawyers, including Monir, had sought permission.

“We will let them know tomorrow about our decision,” he said.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday published the full verdicts on the appeals that challenged the capital punishments of BNP Standing Committee Member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Jamaat Secretary General Mujahid.

Then they were sent to the International Crimes Tribunal same day.

The tribunal on Thursday issued the death warrants for the two war criminals and sent them to the prison authorities.

The warrants were then read out to Chowdhury, 66, and Mujahid, 67, setting the process in motion for the execution of the two, guilty of crimes against humanities committed during Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971.

Mujahid is in Dhaka Central Jail while Chowdhury is in Dhaka Central Jail-1 in Gazipur’s Kashimpur.

Their lawyers earlier confirmed that they would file review petitions after receiving the copies of the final verdict.

Mujahid, the social welfare minister in Khaleda Zia’s BNP-Jamaat coalition Cabinet, planned and executed mass murders including those of intellectuals, scientists, academics and journalists in 1971.

The war crimes tribunal on Jul 17, 2013, ordered him to walk the gallows for the massacre of the intellectuals and involvement in the murder and torture of Hindus during the war.

Out of the seven charges levelled against him, the tribunal had found him guilty on five counts. He was given the death penalty in the first, sixth and seventh charges.

After he moved the Appellate Division against the verdict, the apex court on Jun 16 gave its verdict on Jamaat leader Mujahid, who was the former commander of Al-Badr, upholding the death penalty.

As per law, he now has the option to file a petition for review of the verdict within 15 days, starting from Thursday. He will not be executed before the resolution of the review petition, if filed.

Once their review petitions are resolved and if their death sentences are upheld, the war crimes convicts can seek mercy from the president and meet family members.

If they are denied pardon or if they decline to appeal, the government will execute the convicts through the jail authorities according to the law.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal has said that the government would follow the law to the letter while going ahead with the procedures.