International Crimes Tribunal issues death warrant for Jamaat chief Nizami

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) has issued the death warrant for Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.

It came hours after the Appellate Division published the full copy of its verdict which confirmed his death sentence for 1971 war crimes.

The three members of the tribunal led by Justice Anwarul Haque signed the warrant at around 9pm on Tuesday, said ICT Registrar Md Shahidul Alam Jhinuk.

Paving the way for his execution, around 30 minutes later the warrant, wrapped in red cloth, was sent to Dhaka Central Jail, from where it was forwarded to Kashimpur prison in Gazipur.

Nizami, who headed the Al-Badr militia during the Liberation War, is currently in a condemned cell there.

After the Appellate Division judges signed the verdict in the afternoon, two months after they had delivered it, Additional Registrar Arunabha Chakrabarty said the full copy of the judgment was sent to the ICT in the evening.

Jhinuk had received it from Supreme Court Assistant Registrar Mehedi Hasan.

Copies of the full verdict was also despatched to the home ministry and the Dhaka district magistrate as per rules.

After receiving the death warrant, Kashimpur jail authorities will read it out to Nizami.

Nizami will then have a chance to file a petition to have the judgment on his appeal against the death penalty reviewed, but he will have to do it within 15 days from the publication of the full verdict.

The countdown will begin on Wednesday, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told bdnews24.com. “The government will start the process to carry out the execution if no-one files the review petition before the deadline.”

Defence counsel SM Shahjhan said they will file the petition after receiving the copy of the verdict.

Once the review petition is resolved and if the death sentence is upheld, the war crimes convict will have the opportunity to seek mercy from the president and meet family members.

If the Jamaat leader declines to seek a review of the verdict or if he is denied pardon, the government will order the jail authorities to hang him.

The ICT had, on Oct 29, 2014, ordered his execution, for the murders and rape in Pabna and the mass killing of intellectuals during the War of Independence.

Out of the 16 charges levelled by the prosecution, the war crimes tribunal had found Nizami guilty on eight counts.

A four-member top appeals bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on Jan 6 this year upheld Nizami’s capital punishment for orchestrating the massacre of Bangladesh’s best minds with the help of ruthless Al-Badr militia.

Nizami’s case is the sixth one, among all war crimes convicts so far, to come to the stage of review petition after publication of the full verdict.

The 72-year old is the third former minister who is facing the gallows for war crimes.

Nizami, who was the industries minister during the BNP-led 2001-06 Four-Party alliance government, was also handed down the death penalty in 2014 for arms trafficking in Chittagong’s sensational 10-truck arms haul case.