Death reference of Aug 21 grenade attack convicts ‘ready’ for High Court hearing

The death reference of convicts and their appeal against the verdict in the Aug 21 2004 grenade attack case are ready to be heard at the High Court.

The court can open the hearing soon and complete it by the end of this year, the state hopes.

“The paper book is ready. The court has appointed lawyers paid by the state to represent the convicts who are absconding. So, the case is all set for hearing,” said Attorney General AM Amin Uddin.

As the court reopened recently after the end of lockdown, the state will mention the case by next week and try to get the hearing under way soon, he said.

Aminul Islam, the lawyer for former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, who has been handed capital punishment in the case by a tribunal, has challenger the sentence in the High Court.

“Death reference cases are heard in the High Court according to the years and chronological order. Currently, the court is hearing the cases from 2015-16. If the hearing follows the chronology, it will take four to five more years to start,” he said.

“For this case, however, after the verdict was delivered in 2018, death reference was recorded at the soonest and the paper book got ready as well. Now the case is ready for hearing. Considering the importance of the case, the chief justice may form a bench for hearing.”

THE VERDICT

At least 24 people were killed and 500 others were injured in the grenade attack targeting Awami League chief and then leader of the opposition Sheikh Hasina on a party rally. Hasina narrowly escaped death but suffered hearing loss.

Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced 19 people to death, handed 19 others life terms and penalised another 11 with different jail terms on Oct 11, 2018 for their roles in the massacre.

Tarique Rahman, acting BNP chief and son of then prime minister Khaleda Zia, was sentenced to life in prison over the attack. Along with Babar, Former deputy minister for education Abdus Salam Pintu was also handed the death penalty while BNP chief Khaleda's former political secretary Harris Chowdhury was sentenced to life in prison.

Eleven government officials accused in the case received different jail terms. Investigation revealed Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami militant group carried out the attack backed by people in the government.

The others who were sentenced to death are Hanif Enterprise owner M Hanif, former NSI directors general Abdur Rahim, Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, Pintu's brother Harkat-ul Jihad leader Maulana Tajuddin, Abdul Malek alias Golam Mohammad, Sheikh Abdus Salam, Abdul Majid Bhat of Kashmir, Maulana Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid, HuJI leader Mufti Hannan's brother Mohibullah Mafizur Rahman, Maulana Abu Sayeed, Abul Kalam Azad alias Bulbul, Md Jahangir Alam, Maulana Abu Taher, Hossain Ahmed Tamim, Mainuddin Sheikh alias Abu Jandal, Md Rafiqul Islam, and Md Ujjal alias Ratan.

Besides Tarique and Harris, the convicts who got life term are former BNP MP Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad, former ward commissioner Ariful Islam Arif, HuJi leader Abdul Hannan alias Sabbir, Maulana Yahiya, Maulana Abdur Rouf, Md Khalil, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai, Babu alias Ratul Babu, Shahadat Ullah alias Jewel, Arif Hasan Suman, Mahibul Muttakin, Anisul Murshalin, Jahangir Alam Badar, Md Iqbal, Abu Bakar alias Hafez Selim Howlader, and Liton alias Maulana Liton.

Those who got capital punishment were also fined Tk 100,000 each, while those who received life term were fined Tk 50,000.

According to the law, the High Court must approve before the execution of a death sentence. The appeal for that approval is known as death reference.

Death reference and other documents on the 2004 grenade attack case were sent to the High Court on Nov 27, 2018, one and a half months after the tribunal gave its verdict. These included the case dossier, charge sheet, testimonies and copy of the verdict.

The total documents were 37,385 pages long which were stored in the High Court record room.

The verdict in another case filed under the Explosives Act has 369 pages while the verdict on the murder case has 356.

The death row convicts and lifers appealed against the verdict.

All of the appeals, jail appeal, death reference, verdict and other documents were sent to BG Press, the government printing house. The paper book was printed there.

On Aug 16, 2020, the paper book reached the Supreme Court and it was prepared for hearing following another round of scrutiny.

The hearing can start once the chief justice forms a bench for the case.