STAFF REPORTER
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court deferred the hearing on a review petition filed by war crime convict and Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami seeking review of its judgement that upheld his death penalty for his wartime offences.Following a six week time petition filed by Nizami, the four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha said that the hearing of the review petition ‘not this week.
Nizami sought six-week time from the apex court for hearing the review petition on the ground of personal difficulties of his principal lawyer Khandaker Mahbub Hossain.
Later, Advocate SM Shahjahan, counsel for Nizami, told reporters that they pleaded for six weeks. But, the court said that it would not hear the petition this week. The matter is likely to be heard after this week, he added.
On March 30, Nizami filed the review petition with the Supreme Court seeking reconsideration of his death penalty for wartime offences.
Later, in response to a government plea for a quick hearing, the Chamber Judge Justice Mirza Hussain Haider on the same day said that the matter will come up at the regular business agenda on April 3.
Barrister Najeeb Momen, son of Nizami, said that a total of 70-page document citing 46 arguments has been submitted to the apex court seeking acquittal order from the apex court.
Nizami filed the petition 14 days after the SC released the full judgment.
The SC on January 6 this year upheld the verdict of the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that sentenced Nizami to death for crimes against humanity during the country’s 1971 War of Liberation.
Two months later, on March 15, the apex court released the full verdict. The ICT issued death warrant for him hours after the SC released its full verdict.
The following day, the jail authorities read out the judgment before the convict.
In October 2014, the ICT-1 handed down capital punishment to Nizami, the leader of infamous Al-Badr Bahini, for his wartime offences.
