Supreme Court finishes hearing Salauddin Quader’s review plea, verdict shortly

The Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on BNP leader and war crimes convict Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s plea for a review of his death penalty in a short while.

An appeal bench, led by Chief Justice SK Sinha, completed a hearing on the plea on Wednesday morning.

Salauddin Quader had moved the top court in an attempt to have his death sentence commuted.

The bench is also scheduled to deliver its verdict on a similar petition by another death-row war criminal Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid later in the day.

A war crimes tribunal had sentenced Chittagong’s wartime terror Salauddin Quader, a former Fatikchharhi MP, to death on Oct 1, 2013 for mass slaughter and torture of Hindus and Awami League supporters.

A Supreme Court Appellate Division bench, led by Chief Justice SK Sinha, had upheld Chowdhury’s death penalty on July 29.

The full appeal verdict was published on Sep 30.

Chowdhury is currently in Kashimpur Jail.

On Monday, the High Court dropped a writ petition by his wife Farhat Quader Chowdhury challenging the constitution of the war crimes tribunal from its cause list.

The review petition is Chowdhury’s last legal hope to evade execution.

If the court does not reverse the verdict, he will be left with the sole option of seeking presidential clemency.