Families of Salauddin Quader, Mujahid raise doubts over the death-row convicts seeking presidential clemency

The families of war criminals Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid have raised doubts over the death-row convicts’ move to seek presidential clemency.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 21 Nov 2015, 01:24 PM
Updated : 21 Nov 2015, 01:24 PM

Law Minister Anisul Huq told bdnews24.com that the two have filed mercy petitions.
But the families say they will only believe it if they hear it from the convicts or their lawyers.
 
In a last-ditch attempt to delay the executions, the families held separate press briefings on Saturday morning, where they did not spell out anything clearly about a submission of mercy petitions.
 
BNP leader Salauddin’s family told reporters they would write to the President arguing that his trial had not been fair.
 
Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mujahid’s family, on the other hand, urged the government not to execute him until the Aug 21 grenade attack case had been resolved.
 
Around 2:30pm, the law minister told bdnews24.com that the two had sought presidential clemency, acknowledging the horrific crimes they committed in 1971 to thwart Bangladesh’s independence.
 

Around 2:35pm, Deputy Jailor Sarbattam Dewan was seen coming out of Dhaka Central Jail with a file marked ‘important documents’.
The prison official evaded the press corps’ query over the documents.
Mujahid’s family said they didn’t find ‘credible’ the news of his seeking clemency.
“The authorities are saying ‘He filed a mercy petition’, without allowing him to meet with lawyers. We do not find this credible,” Mujahid’s son Ali Ahmed Mabrur told bdnews24.com.
The Jamaat-e-Islami also said the news was ‘untrue and confusing’.

“Several media quoting prison authorities have reported that Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid has sought clemency from the honourable President, which is totally untrue and confusing,” Jamaat said in a web post.
 

Meanwhile, BNP leader Salauddin Quader’s family went to the Bangabhaban on Saturday afternoon with a petition addressed to the President arguing that his trial had not been fair.
Speaking to the media, his son Hummam Quader Chowdhury said: “My father would seek clemency? I cannot say that without speaking with him.”
He was told by the reporters that the law minister had confirmed it.
“Anisul Huq (minister) knows very well what my father might have said. Everyone knows what kind of person my father is,” was his reply.