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Published : 10 Apr 2015, 11:39 AM
But the jail authorities and the officials did not reveal anything about the Jamaat-e-Islami leader’s decision.
Senior jail Superintendent Forman Ali sidestepped questions about Friday’s visit.
“They came on an official business,” he said when asked about the magistrates’ visit but declined to comment on whether Kamaruzzaman had informed the officials of his decision.
The Jamaat senior assistant secretary general was sentenced to death for atrocities during Bangladesh’s Liberation War.
The Appellate Division upheld the sentence describing his crimes as being “worse than Nazis”.
Chief Justice SK Sinha-led bench on Apr 6 rejected his plea for a review of the penalty the top court had handed him.
A jail official told bdnews24.com that the two magistrates spoke to Kamaruzzaman for a while.
“They went out after a meeting with top jail officials for over half an hour,” the source said, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
bdnews24.com correspondent Kamal Talukdar from the spot said the two officials had reached the jail just after 10am.
They identified themselves as “magistrates” when journalists asked them who they were.
A detective police official said the jail visitors list had Dhaka district magistrates Mahbub Jamil and Tanveer Ajim’s names.
State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Thursday said district magistrates would visit the convict soon.
“If Kamaruzzaman files a mercy petition then it will be forwarded to the president. Otherwise, the verdict will be carried out as soon as possible,” he said.
Kamaruzzaman’s family has already visited him once on the jail authority’s invitation after the verdict, fulfilling one of the two steps required before he can be executed.
The other remaining issue is whether he would be seeking presidential pardon or not.
If he does, he will have to admit to his crimes. The president will decide once the plea reaches him.
If the petition is rejected or if the convict does not seek mercy, the government will take steps to execute the convict.
A copy of the full verdict reached the prison authorities on Wednesday and was read out to to the death-row convict.
Kamaruzzaman said he would decide on presidential pardon after meeting his lawyers. They visited him on Thursday and said their client would take time to decide.
In response, Kamal said the war criminal would be given only a day to make up his mind.
