Lawyers of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee say they will appeal against his death sentence.Reacting to the ICT’s verdict that ordered Sayadee to be hanged to death for perpetrating ‘crimes against humanity’, senior defence counsel Abdur Razzaq told journalists they will not let the verdict go unchallenged.
“Obviously we will appeal as he (Sayedee) is innocent. He was supposed to be acquitted. Prosecution secured the verdict in their favour by producing false witnesses,” Razzaq said.
In a courtroom packed with journalists, relatives of the accused and observers, ICT-1 Chairman ATM Fazle Kabir said eight of the 20 allegations brought against him were proved beyond doubt.
The list of eight includes two incidents of killing for which he was sentenced to death. Sayedee, however, was not punished for the six other allegations proved before the tribunal.
The International Crimes Tribunal law entitles a convict to appeal if dissatisfied with any verdict.
Regarding the two allegations, Razzaq said, “One allegation is about killing Bisaboli. The state abducted the witness we had brought in this connection.”
“The prosecution witness who testified on the other allegation is himself a convict, and his deposition should not be accepted in a court.”
The tribunal while delivering the verdict observed that prosecution had successfully established Sayedee’s role as the local Razakar leader in Pirozpur.
(Source: bdnews24.com)
