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Published : 06 Mar 2016, 07:51 PM
An Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha is scheduled to deliver the verdict on Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali's appeal against his death sentence on Mar 8.
Food Minister Islam on Saturday demanded that a new bench, excluding Justice Sinha, hear the appeal as the chief justice, Islam said, "brought allegations against the state and the government by reprimanding the prosecution".
Earlier on Sunday, BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said Islam's comments were "a blow to the judiciary's freedom".
Attorney General Alam urged all to avoid making controversial remarks. He said such comments would make the war crimes trials questionable.
Later, Islam said, "The BNP and our attorney general are using the same language. He and Rizvi are speaking in the same tone."
He told reporters at his office, "Am I not allowed to give my reaction as a citizen and a freedom fighter when judges say in court that the prosecution is doing politics?"
"I am not speaking against the chief justice...how I was made (someone the minister did not name) aggrieved before the verdict...Do I not have the freedom to react?
“It is meaningless to say here that the Constitution has been violated, there has been contempt of court. I neither violated the Constitution nor made any comments contemptuous of the court," the minister said.
"I didn't say that the court was biased in making those comments. But those comments made us anxious," he added.
Islam, a lawyer by profession, admitted that it was not right to speak on a sub judice issue.
"But no side can hurt another side during a trial," he added.
The Awami League leader also said he hoped the verdict would be 'as expected'.
"My heart will break if Mir Quasem Ali is acquitted," he said.
Islam was minister of state for law at the time the International Crimes Tribunal was constituted during the term of the Awami League government in 2009-2014.
