Supreme Court order rejecting Kamaruzzaman’s review plea reaches Dhaka jail officials

The top appeals court’s verdict scrapping death-row war criminal Mohammad Kamaruzzaman’s plea to review his sentence has reached the Dhaka Central Jail.

Jail authorities can now formally ask the convict whether he wishes to seek presidential pardon, the only issue yet to be resolved before carrying out the execution.

The four judges of the Appellate Division bench signed the 36-page document on Wednesday afternoon. 

The bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on Monday threw out the defence petition to commute his punishment.

The order reached the Supreme Court’s relevant wing around 3pm and was sent to the war crimes tribunal before 5pm.

“It is being sent to the tribunal, which will then forward it to the district magistrate and the jail authorities,” Md Sabbir Foyez, additional registrar, had earlier told bdnews24.com.

Copies of the order have also been sent to the home and law ministries as well as the office of the attorney general.

Acting Deputy Registrar Aftabuzzaman said the document was presented before the judges of the International Crimes Tribunal-2, which had handed down the capital punishment for war crimes. 

Aftabuzzaman said he took the copy to Dhaka Central Jail around 6pm following the court’s order.