SC halts Quader Molla’s execution at last minute

A Supreme Court judge has ordered a halt to war criminal Abdul Quader Molla’s execution in a move that has caught the nation by surprise after arrangements were made for midnight hanging.

After the Jamaat-e-Islami leader’s lawyers moved him, Chamber Judge Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain on Tuesday night suspended the execution of Molla’s death sentence until 10:30am Wednesday.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam, however, expressed frustration while speaking to bdnews24.com as he was not aware of any such order.

International Crimes Tribunal prosecution team coordinator, Additional Attorney General MK Rahman found the situation ‘somewhat unusual’.

However, minutes after the stay order was given, the Ganajagaran Mancha announced to occupy Shahbagh and braced for protests until the Jamaat Assistant Secretary General’s death sentence was carried out.

Supporters of the Jamaat went berserk across Bangladesh since Tuesday evening after news spread that Molla would be hanged at midnight. They attacked the houses of Awami League leaders at places.

The Jamaat has also called a nationwide daylong general strike for Wednesday. It threatened that the ruling party’s ‘political death’ will be ensured if Quader Molla was to hang.

On Tuesday, the Jamaat leader’s imminent execution could be sensed after top government officials held a closed-door meeting at the Secretariat and prison authorities wrote to Molla’s family asking them to meet him in the evening.

Around 7pm, State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku told the media that the war crimes convict would be hanged 'tonight'.

After him, Dhaka Central Jail Senior Superintendent Farman Ali told reporters around 8pm that Molla’s death sentence would be carried out at 12:01am on Wednesday.

While State Minister for Law Qamrul Islam was telling mediapersons that the Jamaat leader had refused to seek presidential pardon, reports came in that Molla’s lawyers led by chief defence counsel Abdur Razzaq was on their way to the Supreme Court Chamber Judge’s Kakrail residence in a last- ditch attempt.

As many as 23 members of Molla’s family, including his wife, son and four daughters, entered the high-security prison around 7:45pm to meet him for the last time.

They came out around 8:45pm. At the time, prison authorities said that preparations for the execution were complete.

A large number of police were also deployed in front of the jail. Plainclothesmen along with over 300 RAB personnel stood guard in the area as traffic on the Nazimuddin Road before jail was blocked.

Earlier in the evening, four handmade bombs were exploded in front of the jail after the execution plan was announced.

All this while, Razzaq accompanied by Bangladesh Bar Council Vice-Chairman Khandakar Mahbub Hossain, a senior pro-BNP lawyer, and Tajul Islam, a key member of the Jamaat leaders’ defence, was still at Justice Mahmud Hossain’s house at the Judges Complex at Kakrail.

Around 10:30pm, after getting out of the Chamber Judge’s residence, Razzaq told bdnews24.com they had secured an order for suspension of the execution of the sentence until 10:30am Wednesday.

Reached for comment, Supreme Court Registrar AKM Shamsul Islam told bdnews24.com that an order of this nature had reached them. “We are contacting the prison authorities,” he said.

However, the prison authorities were at the ready to execute the death sentence until then. Around 10:45pm, one of Molla’s lawyers Farid Uddin arrived at the jail gate to deliver a copy of the stay order.

He told reporters, “The Chamber Judge has given the stay order. We are here to inform the prison authorities.”

Dhaka’s Civil Surgeon was seen entering the jail nearly at the same time Farid Uddin arrived.

Several minutes later, Abdur Razzaq also arrived there. After meeting the prison officials, he told reporters at the jail gate about the Chamber Judge’s order.

As the previously set execution time, 12:01am, passed, Senior Superintendent Farman Ali confirmed the journalists of the stay order on Molla’s execution.

The International Crimes Tribunal had on Sunday issued the death warrant for Molla on receiving a copy of the full version of the Supreme Court’s death verdict.

Earlier, Bangladesh's second war crimes tribunal on Feb 5 had sentenced Molla to life imprisonment for killings, rapes and looting during the War of Independence in 1971.

Perceived to be too lenient a penalty, it sparked off a wave of anger and frustration, drawing thousands of protestors to march across Dhaka to stream into what is by now the iconic Shahbagh crossway, birthplace of the youth-led civil uprising.

The mass protests that ran for weeks and spread to the whole of Bangladesh would later be known as “Bangla Spring’.

The Islamist party had issued threat of a ‘civil war’ the day prior to the verdict on Quader Molla.

The Prosecution moved the Supreme Court against the verdict. The highest court, on Oct 17, revised the life term to a death sentence.

'Unusual situation'

Confusion reigned as Attorney General Alam and ICT prosecution coordinator Rahman said they were completely unaware of stay order on Molla's execution.

Alam told bdnews24.com: "I don’t know anything about such petition. We [state] are one of the parties, but I was not notified about the petition."

"I was at the court until 6pm. I could have been reached over phone, but no one called. Whatever happened, we were unaware of that."

AAG Rahman also sounded surprised. Speaking to bdnews24.com, he said, "I'm at home.... I have no idea about this."

"The situation is somewhat unusual. We could have been notified. But no one did that," he added.

After the death warrant was issued for Molla, the prison authorities had began the preparations to carry out the death sentence.

Defence lawyers have been saying that according to the Constitution the Jamaat leader had the right to appeal for a review of the death penalty delivered by the Appellate Division.

But the Prosecution counters the argument, citing Section 47 of the Constitution which stipulates that those convicted of genocide would not have the facility to enjoy the basic human rights.

Molla's lawyers on Tuesday morning had met him. Chief defence counsel Razzaq had said the Jamaat Assistant Secretary General only directed them to file a plea for the review of the Supreme Court's full verdict.

'No mercy'

As a last resort, Quader Molla had the chance to seek presidential clemency within seven days from the publication of the full verdict.

But he did not take it, said junior law minister Qamrul on Tuesday evening.

He told reporters, "Prison authorities in presence of two Executive Magistrates asked him whether he would seek clemency. But he refused."

"Opportunities don’t come time and again. So there's no reason to delay [in carrying out the death sentence], he won't have another chance to seek mercy," he said.

Then, the State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku said that the execution would be carried out on Tuesday night.

The Jamaat-e-Islami had enforced a nationwide shutdown on Feb 6 protesting the Feb 5 ICT verdict which gave him life in prison.

It had also called a 48-hour shutdown across Bangladesh after the Supreme Court on Oct 17 revised the life term to death sentence.

Tuku, however, said the government had already taken precautionary steps to tackle violence.

"We've already directed the law-enforcing agencies to be vigilant to prevent any possible sabotage and violence."

Earlier at noon, a meeting on the preliminary preparations for execution of Molla's death sentence took place in the room of Prime Minister's Advisor Shafique Ahmed at the Secretariat.

Apart from Qamrul, Tuku, Attorney General Alam, International Crimes Tribunal's Registrar AKM Nasir Uddin Mahmud, Law Secretary Abu Saleh Sheikh Md Zahirul Haque, Senior Home Secretary CQK Mustaq Ahmed, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Hassan Mahmood Khandker also attended the meeting.

Shutdown still there

Jamaat-e-Islami on Sunday called shutdown for Monday and Tuesday protesting against the warrant for executing Abdul Quader Molla.

A three-day blockade, called by BNP-led 18-Party alliance that includes the Jamaat, had begun on Saturday. This was later on Monday extended by three more days to 6am Friday.

After the execution was halted until 10:30am Wednesday, the Jamaat on Tuesday again called a third consecutive dawn-to-dusk shutdown across the country, protesting ‘the government's conspiracy to kill Molla’.

In a statement, Jamaat’s acting Secretary General Shafiqul Islam Masud said, “The government has conspired to kill the country’s law, Constitution and human rights by not allowing Molla the Constitutional right to have his verdict reviewed.”

“We want to categorically tell the government that it will be recorded as a heinous and planned political murder across the world, including Bangladesh, if any efforts are made to kill Molla to make political gains,” the Jamaat leader added.

Jamaat-e-Islami had opposed the birth of Bangladesh and its top brass was engaged in crimes against humanity in 1971.

Its active role against the liberation was highlighted a multiple times in verdicts by the International Crimes Tribunal against its top leaders.

The party had on Nov 22 threatened to set Bangladesh afire once a move was made to execute the death verdict on Molla.

Molla in the dock

A case was filed with Keraniganj police on Dec 17, 2007 accusing several Jamaat leaders of the killing of one Mostofa during the Liberation War.

A year later, another case was filed against him at the Pallabi Police Station. He was arrested on Jul 13, 2010 in the case.

Prosecution pressed charges of murder, rape, arson and other crimes against humanity on Nov 1, 2011 and tribunal took them into cognisance on Dec 28.

ICT-2 indicted him on six charges on May 28 last year and ordered starting his trial. The verdict came nine months later, in February this year.