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Published : 02 Sep 2016, 03:06 PM
With his last legal recourse, the review petition, rejected by the Appellate Division of the apex court on Tuesday, the Jamaat-e-Islami baron can only gamble on presidential pardon if he seeks mercy.
So far, even though two days have elapsed since his fate was consigned to the hangman, Mir Quasem has not decided if he wishes to file the mercy petition.
"Our senior officials have not issued any new orders so even we have not tried to know anything from him. Once the authorities direct us, we will take the next step," said Prashanta Kumar Banik, Superintendent of Central Jail-2 at Gazipur's Kashimpur.
Mir Quasem is lodged in a condemned cell in this prison.
The top financier of the Jamaat was awarded the death sentence in 2014 for the atrocities he committed during the 1971 Liberation War as an Al-Badr commander.
The Supreme Court in March this year upheld the verdict, following which he sought a review of the judgment, which was rejected on Tuesday, exhausting his legal option that could have shielded him from the scaffold.
The only hope of an escape from the gallows is to seek clemency for his crimes from the president and hope that president forgives him.
If the president turns down his request or if he chooses not to file the mercy plea, he is set to be hanged.
On Wednesday, Kashimpur prison's Jailer Nasir Uddin had said that if Mir Quasem did not seek clemency, the jail authorities would be ready with preparations for his hanging.
The same day, Mir Quasem's wife after meeting her husband in prison had alleged that their son, who is a lawyer, had been whisked away by men in plainclothes.
She said that the family would decide about clemency only after his return.
The state authorities, on the other hand, have said that Mir Quasem will be provided with "reasonable time" to decide on whether or not he wishes to seek clemency.
