The High Court has given life sentences to two men sentenced to five-year prison terms in the Commodore (retd) Golam Rabbani murder case, overturning a lower court judgement.
Commodore Rabbani, who was witness to the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, had been shot at on April 11, 2004, and later died in a Bangkok hospital.The court has upheld the life sentence of to another accused but acquitted the fourth, who, too, had been sentenced to life imprisonment.
The fifth accused, who had been let off by the lower court, has been ordered to undergo fresh trial.
The bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Akram Hossain Chowdhury on Wednesday gave the new verdict in this sensational case.
Retired Commodore Rabbani, then the managing director of Korean EPZ, was injured in a brush fire on April 11, 2004 inside a microbus. He died 13 days later in a Bangkok hospital.
High Court has sentenced former Korean EPZ managing director Abu Naser Chowdhury and former chief security officer Humayun Kabir Chowdhury to life sentences, besides slapping Tk 50,000 fines each.
Accused Mohammad Selim’s life sentence has been upheld, while Abdul Malek Sohel, who who serving life sentence given by the lower court, has been.
Saiful Islam, who had been let off by the lower court, faces a round fresh trial ordered by the High Court.
Deputy Attorney General Khandker Diliruzzaman told bdnews24.com all five accused were out on bail.
The High Court has asked Naser, Humayun, Selim and Sohel to surrender within six weeks.
Rabbani, who was an aide-de-camp to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, later served as the Chittagong Port Authority chairman and the director general of the Department of Shipping.
In 2005, a speedy trial tribunal gave life sentence to Selim, Sohel and one Mohammad Hashem and five years to Naser and Humayun.
The court in its observations had said investigation in the case had been sloppy.
After the verdict, all the accused appealed to the High Court. The state appealed, too, seeking the highest punishment.
The High Court in 2005 granted bail to all of them. Hashem was acquitted by the High Court in 2008. – bdnews24.com
