The review petition for Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman was filed by his lawyer Shishir Monir filed the petition with the Supreme Court on Thursday.
Following a plea by the state to hear the matter, chamber judge Justice Hasan Foez Siddique decided to give an order on the petition on Sunday.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam has saidthat they felt the matter needed to be heard.“There were no defence lawyers during the hearing at the court of chamber judge. We said that this needs to be heard and the court informed us that they would let us know on Sunday,” said Alam.
In May, 2013, Kamaruzzaman was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 after it found him guilty of five of the seven charges levelled against him by the prosecution.
The Appellate Division upheld the death sentence.
As per the law, he was entitled to file a review against the Supreme Court’s verdict within 15 days of the publication of the full verdict.
The review petition stalled the execution of the death warrant, said the attorney general.
Before submitting the petition, Kamaruzzaman’s lawyers Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, Tajul Islam and Shishir Monir held a press conference on the review petition.
Khandaker, also the SCBA president and the adviser to BNP chief Khaleda Zia, said: “Thousands of cases are pending. Many cases in which death penalties had been awarded are also pending.”
“There is no compulsion for prompt disposal of the review petition here,” he added.
Khandaker hoped the court would not be in a hurry to dispose of Kamaruzzaman’s plea.
“Tension is prevailing in the country. We the lawyers cannot stay home at night. Many are worried,” he said.
In another press conference, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the verdict on convicted war criminal Abdul Quader Molla, who has been already hanged, had suggested prompt disposal of review petitions.
He said: “It is said there (in the verdict) that it’s not an appeal. It’s not a matter for re-hearing. This (review) provision is there so that the court can rectify if it had made any mistake.”
“No law provides for review. Only verdict provides for it. The same verdict says it (review petition) has to be disposed of promptly,” he added.
Kamaruzzaman had been sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2 in May 2013 after it found him guilty of five of the seven charges levelled against him by the prosecution. – News Desk
