Jail authorities 'ask' family to meet Mir Quasem at Kashimpur prison

The family of war criminal Mir Quasem Ali says that they have been asked to meet the death-row convict at the Kashimpur prison in Gazipur.

"We have been told to go there at 3:30pm," daughter Sumaiya Rabeya told bdnews24.com on Saturday.

The execution of Jamaat-e-Islami leader's death sentence now awaits the government's clearance as the war crimes convict have refused to seek presidential  clemency.

However, the government has not made an official announcement until Saturday morning about the impending execution of Mir Quasem Ali.

Families of death-row convicts usually get to meet them hours before their death sentence is carried out.

Kashimpur Central Jail (Unit-2) Superintendent Prashanta Kumar Banik told bdnews24.com on Friday night, "The jail authorities are always ready to carry out the government's order. The hanging will be executed once clear instructions are received from the top."

The International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Jamaat executive council member Mir Quasem to death in 2014 for the atrocities he committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

He filed a petition for a review of the appeals verdict that upheld the sentence in March this year.

The Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha dismissed the review petition last Tuesday, clearing all legal obstacles to hanging Mir Quasem.

The prison authorities asked for his decision on the mercy petition after reading out the full review verdict to him. He sought time again on Thursday.

Speaking to bdnews24.com around 4:15pm on Friday, Jail Superintendent Prashanta said: "We asked him in the afternoon about his decision. He said he will not seek presidential clemency."

Thousands, including journalists, flocked outside the prison after Mir Quasem's decision on the mercy petition was reported, which led authorities to ratchet up security.

Surveillance and patrol by RAB, police and Detective Branch strengthened on the road from the jail to Dhaka-Tangail Highway.

Mir Quasem, founding president of the Islami Chhatra Shibir, is a member of Jamaat's policymaking Central Executive Council.

He is the sixth war criminal to see the verdict at its execution level and the fifth top Jamaat leader whose death sentence for war crimes has been upheld in the final verdict.

Jamaat’s assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Molla was the first to be hanged for 1971 war crimes on Dec 12, 2013.

Another assistant secretary general of the party, Mohammad Kamaruzzaman, was executed on Apr 11, 2015.

The jail authorities executed the death sentences of Jamaat secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and BNP Standing Committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on Nov 21 last year.

Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami was the last to hang on May 11 this year.