War crimes convict Mujahid to seek review

Death-row convict and Jamaat-e-Islami leader Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid will file a petition to review the Appellate Division verdict that upheld his death sentence for war crimes.

Khandaker Mahbub Hossain Khandaker Mahbub Hossain

His counsel Khandaker Mahbub Hossain told reporters on Tuesday that they think that the prosecution failed to produce adequate witness and evidence against the defendant.

 

“We will file a review petition within 15 days of the publication of the full verdict,” he said.

 

Hossain claimed that the top appeals court has ‘partially accepted’ their appeal.

 

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha-led four-member bench acquitted the Jamaat leader from the first charge brought against him, in which the tribunal had ordered the death penalty.

 

It also commuted the death sentence given to him on the seventh charge to life imprisonment, but upheld death for the sixth charge related to the murder of intellectuals.

 

The Supreme Court has upheld the tribunal’s life in prison on the fifth charge and three-year jail term on the third charge.

 

Replying a query, the defence counsel said: “We are not disappointed by the verdict. This is the judiciary. There’s no reason to be dissatisfied over the judicial process.” 

 

Mujahid’s case is the fourth war crimes verdict to be resolved at the highest court since the trials started in 2010.