Executions would have gone ahead even if no mercy had been sought, says law minister

The families of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid are trying to sow confusion about whether the war criminals begged the president to spare their lives, the law minister says.

Salauddin and Mujahid’s sons claim their fathers did not seek presidential pardon.

The former ministers were executed in the first hours of Sunday after the head of the state rejected their pleas.

“Their (Salauddin and Mujahid) applications requested the president to use his power under Article 49 of the Constitution,” Law Minister Anisul Huq said on Sunday, replying to a question.

Article 49 of the Constitution says, “The President shall have power to grant pardons, reprieves and respites and to remit, suspend or commute any sentence passed by any court, tribunal or other authority.”

Huq, a top lawyer, said, “If an application refers to Article 49, doesn’t it mean that the applicant is seeking mercy?”

Previously executed Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Abdul Quader Molla and Mohammad Kamaruzzaman did not seek mercy from the president.

“The government’s responsibility is to carry out the verdict of the top court,” the law minister said. “We could have carried out the executions even if they (Salauddin and Mujahid) had not pleaded for mercy.

“...Any debate over the matter is absurd.”

Chowdhury’s son Hummam Quader Chowdhury and Mujahid’s son Ali Ahmed Mabrur had doubted reports that their fathers had sought mercy.

Convicts have to file mercy petitions through the jail authorities. The home ministry, which oversees prisons, forwards such applications to the president’s office through the law ministry.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal cleared the confusion when he was asked about the families raising doubts over it.

“They may not have been aware of it. The petitions were sent to us. They were not supposed to know.”

Presidential clemency was the only option left for the two after the Appellate Division had rejected their review petitions.

But Salauddin’s family had gone to the Bangabhaban to complain about the trial.

Law Minister Huq said: “We forwarded the two petitions to the president with our observations. The president dismissed them. The applications referred to Article 49 of the Constitution.”

He said the families were making such claims to “confuse not only the people of Bangladesh but also their supporters across the world”.

When asked if the petitions would be made public to clear the confusion, the minister said, “They cannot be published without the president’s order.”