Mujahid, Salauddin Quader yet to decide on seeking presidential mercy

Dhaka Central Jail authorities say they will ask death-row war-crime convicts Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on Friday whether they intend to seek presidential clemency.

After the Supreme Court dismissed their petitions for a review of the death sentences passed on them, the two former ministers now only have the option of seeking the president’s mercy to stall their imminent execution.

Deputy Inspector General of Prisons Golam Haider told bdnews24.com on Friday the sentences would be carried out if they refused to seek mercy or if the president rejected their prayers.

He said preparations for their executions had already been made.

“We’ve read out the verdicts to them. They said they would let us know later when asked whether they would seek mercy.”

Haider added, “We’ll ask them again about their decision today.”

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters in the morning that the government would remain within legal parameters in its approach to the matter.

“We’ll take every step (regarding the execution of the two) by following the law.”

When asked whether he had any knowledge of the convicts’ intention to seek mercy, he said, “We are yet to get any response. They may seek mercy. We’ll take relevant measures if that happens.”

The minister added the government had taken every precaution to maintain law and order across the country in the aftermath of the executions if the convicts’ mercy options, too, were to be exhausted.

“The people have welcomed the rejection of their review petitions,” he said.

The Appellate Division verdicts rejecting the last-ditch appeals of Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mujahid and BNP Standing Committee Member Chowdhury were signed by the justices and sent to the prison authorities via the International Crimes Tribunal on Thursday night.

Senior Jail Superintendent Jahangir Kabir received the copies of the verdicts, which were later read out to the two condemned convicts in the presence of top prison officials.

It may be recalled that in earlier instances, the court had taken only a day to hear and reject the review petitions of two war criminals, Jamaat assistant secretaries general Abdul Quader Molla and Mohammad Kamaruzzaman.

They did not seek the president’s pardon and were eventually hanged.

On Thursday, family members of both Salauddin Quader and Mujahid met them in jail before the top appeals court published the verdicts.

Mujahid’s lawyer Gazi HM Tamim told bdnews24.com on Friday morning: “Five of us had sought permission to meet him (Mujahid) at 10:30am today. But the prison authorities did not allow the visit.”

Meanwhile, Chowdhury’s lawyer Hujjatul Islam Khan Alfesani has said the members of the BNP leader’s family have told him that he wants to meet his counsels.

“We’ll ask the prison authorities today for permission to meet him,” he told bdnews24.com.

Since Wednesday, when the verdicts were delivered upholding the duo’s death sentences, law-enforcing agencies have imposed tight security in and around Dhaka Central Jail.

Both Chawkbazar Police OC Shamimur Rashid and RAB-10 Commander Jahangir Hossain Matubbar have said security has been enhanced to prevent any untoward incident as both death-row convicts were being kept in the jail.