Aug 21 case: State petitions to appeal against acquittal of all suspects

“The appeal petitions for the High Court verdict to be scrapped,” says Shishir Manir, a lawyer for the defence

The state has petitioned to appeal against the High Court verdict acquitting all 49 suspects sentenced by the Speedy Trial Tribunal in the Aug 21 Bangabandhu Avenue grenade attack case.

The leave-to-appeal hearing has been added to the cause list of the four-member Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed for Wednesday.

Advocate Md Shishir Manir, one of the lawyers for the defendants, said: “The state has filed a leave to appeal against the High Court’s verdict. The appeal petitions for the High Court verdict to be scrapped.”

Deputy Attorney General Zahirul Haque Sumon, the state counsellor, said: “The case is scheduled as hearing No. 24 on today’s agenda for the Appellate Division.”

The attack on Aug 21, 2004, during the coalition government of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, killed 24 people and targeted a rally headlined by Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on Bangabandhu Avenue.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was the prime minister at the time, while Hasina was the leader of the opposition.

Fourteen years later, on Oct 10, 2018, Judge Shahed Nuruddin of Dhaka’s First Speedy Trial Tribunal delivered the initial verdict.

Nineteen individuals, including former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar and deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu in former prime minister Khaleda Zia's government, were sentenced to death.

BNP leader and Khaleda’s eldest son Tarique Rahman and her political secretary Haris Chowdhury were among the 19 others sentenced to life imprisonment, while 11 security officials faced varying prison terms.

In the observations, the judge said the attack was carried out with the “support of state machinery” with the “malicious intent to render the [Awami League] leaderless”.

“In politics, there will of course be a hundred disputes between the ruling party and the opposition party. But that doesn’t mean there can be an attempt to render the opposition leaderless. This is unacceptable.”

On Dec 1, the High Court overturned the trial court’s verdict in the widely-discussed case, quashing the death sentences for 19 people, life terms for 19 others, and different jail terms for 11 police and army personnel.

The High Court’s decision cleared all those who appealed the trial court’s verdict, as well as those who did not.

In its observations on the verdict, the court said that the 2011 chargesheet which had formed the basis for the trial was illegal.

After the High Court verdict, lawyer and BNP leader Kayser Kamal said that Tarique’s name was added in the supplementary chargesheet in the case in a “politically motivated” manner. This is what the High Court has declared as illegal.

In addition to Kayser, SM Shajahan, Zainul Abedin, Mahbub Uddin Khokon and Shishir Manir appeared for the defence at the hearing. Deputy Attorney General Jashim Sarkar represented the state.

The High Court received the tribunal’s judgment and death reference documents on Nov 27, 2018, for further scrutiny and approval—a necessary step for executing death sentences.

The hearing on death references, appeals, and jail petitions began on Dec 5, 2022, after a lengthy process of documentation and paper book preparation.

Over 37,000 pages of case materials, including statements, charge sheets, witness testimonies, and judgments, were reviewed.

BNP's de facto leader Tarique, who resides in the UK, was adjudged a fugitive by court and was unable to appeal.

High Court proceedings on the case resumed in December 2022.

The court concluded the hearing on the death references and appeals in the case on Nov 21.