Mir Quasem informed of SC verdict hours after it was pronounced

Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali has been informed of the Appellate Division verdict confirming the death sentence on him, several hours after the judgment was pronounced, say jail authorities.

The top court on Tuesday upheld the capital punishment awarded to him by the International Crimes Tribunal for atrocities committed against Bangalees during the 1971 Liberation War.

The Appellate Division bench, led by Chief Justice SK Sinha, handed down the verdict in the morning.

Prasanta Kumar Banik, Superintendent of Kashimpur Central Jail-2, said, "Mir Quasem was formally informed of the Appellate Division verdict at noon. He looked normal."

The former Al-Badr leader has been detained in condemned cell number 40 in the prison.

Banik said the jail authorities came to know of the top court's verdict late as cable TV lines in the jail had not been working.

An executive council member of the Jamaat, Quasem was arrested on June 17, 2014 from the offices of the newspaper Naya Diganta less than two hours after the tribunal had issued a warrant for his arrest.

On Nov 2, 2014, the ICT sentenced him him to death for the killing of young freedom fighter Jashim Uddin Ahmed and eight others and to 72 years in prison for acts of abduction and torture.

Quasem rose and reacted loudly when the judge announced the sentence for him. "False incidents...false witnesses...it is a directed verdict."

The apex court has upheld the punishment on eight counts, acquitted him on one, and changed the penalty in another.