Kamaruzzaman’s children flash ‘victory’ sign after visiting him in prison

Death-row convict Mohammad Kamaruzzaman’s children have flashed the victory sign on visiting him in prison hours after their father lost the final legal battle in the Supreme Court.

They made the V-for-Victory sign when they were leaving from Dhaka Central Jail around 7:45pm on Monday. 

By then it had become clear that the Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general would not be hanged in the day.

When asked why the sign was shown, Kamaruzzaman’s eldest son Iqbal Hasan said they were not worried about the verdict and that they did it since they could bid farewell smiling to their father.

He added the war crimes convict had claimed the verdict was ‘baseless’ and that “Allah would try all those behind the case proceedings including the current prime minister”.

Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Molla had flashed a victory sign while leaving court after the trial court sentenced him to life in prison in 2013.

His gesture had triggered an unparalleled uprising from Shahbagh, dubbed as ‘Bangla Spring’ in Bangladesh and beyond.

Millions had come out on the streets in full fury and staged non-violent demonstrations for days on end to demand highest penalty for war crimes conviction.

The protests forced the government to amend the tribunal law allowing prosecution to appeal against sentences. The resulting appeal led to his hanging later in the year.

After Monday’s verdict, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said Kamaruzzaman could only seek presidential mercy and meet family members. The verdict would be executed once those were done.

It depends on the president whether or not he will pardon the war criminal. If Kamaruzzaman chooses not to seek presidential clemency, the government will move to execute the death sentence.

Otherwise, the execution will have to wait for the outcome of the mercy petition, the attorney general added.

Iqbal Hasan said, “My father will decide on whether to seek presidential pardon after consulting his lawyers.”

Kamaruzzaman’s lawyers earlier sought permission to meet him to discuss the matter, but were denied by the jail authorities.

Senior Jail Superintendent Forman Ali explained, “We rejected their (lawyers’) application since there’s no provision for them to meet [the convict] for discussion.”

Speaking to reporters on Monday night, he said, “We have not received a copy of the court’s order. We could not ask Kamaruzzaman whether he would seek presidential mercy.”

He also ruled out any possibility of executing the verdict on Monday night.

Asked about preparations to carry out the sentence, Law Minister Anisul Huq told bdnews24.com: “What can I do if the order has not reached [jail]? The order has to go there. How can he (Kamaruzzaman) be hanged otherwise?”

But the jail authorities were ready for the hanging, he said.

Al-Badr leader Kamaruzzaman was sentenced to death by a special tribunal in 2013 for Liberation War time atrocities. Last year, the apex court upheld the death penalty describing his crimes “worse than Nazis”.

On Monday, the chief justice-headed bench threw out his plea to revise the sentence.

The 16 visitors included Kamaruzzaman’s wife Nurunnahar, sons Hasan Iqbal, Hasan Imam and Ahmed Hasan, daughter Atia Nur, his brother Kamrul Islam, sister-in-law Afia Nur.

Iqbal claimed that they were not allowed to get close to their father during the visit.