Dhaka – They people once again have their eyes on the top judiciary as it brought the two review petitions filed by war crimes convict Delawar Hossain Sayedee and the government against its verdict in the war crimes case.Soon after including the review petitions by the Supreme Court in its cause list on April 3, the people of the country are closely monitoring the newspapers with much interest to get the actual information.
However, in response to a time petition filed by Sayedee’s lawyer, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday fixed May 14 for hearing the review petitions filed by war crimes convict Delawar Hossain Sayedee and the government against its verdict in the war crimes case.
On April 3, the review pleas have come up in serial number 147 in the four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.
Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, counsel for Sayedee, filed a time petition seeking more time to prepare for participating in the hearing in the meantime.
During yesterday’s proceedings, Hossain sought more time from the court to take preparation for hearing.
After hearing on the petition, the apex court fixed May 14 for starting hearing on the petitions.
Earlier, on 28 February, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced Sayedee to death for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.
On 28 March, 2013, Sayedee filed an appeal with the apex court seeking acquittal from the charges, while the government side on the same day separately appealed to the Supreme Court demanding capital punishment in all the eight charges he faced.
The Appellate Division on September 17, 2014, commuted his death sentence to imprisonment till his natural death.
The Supreme Court on 31 December, 2015 released the full text of its verdict commuting Sayedee’s death penalty to jail unto death in the case.
On 12 January last year, the prosecution filed a review petition seeking death penalty for the influential Jamaat leader. – Staff Reporter
