Convict, govt can seek SC review
Putting an end to all confusions, the Supreme Court has said a convicted war criminal can seek review of verdict on the appeal in 15 days since receiving the certified copy of the judgment or being informed about it.
Thus, it becomes clear that Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, whose death penalty was upheld by the SC on November 3 in a war crimes case, is allowed to move a review petition.
The prosecution can file the petition as well.
"It [review petition] can be filed within 15 days from the date of intimation to the accused about judgment of this Division or from the date of receipt of a certified copy of the judgment whichever is earlier," said the SC in the full judgement on two review petitions filed by Quader Mollah.
The full text was released yesterday after five judges of the apex court bench led by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain signed it.
The other four judges are -- Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik.
After the International Crimes Tribunal-2 had sentenced him to life imprisonment in February 2013, Mollah appealed to the SC seeking acquittal of war crimes charges while the prosecution sought his death penalty.
The apex court sentenced him to death, overruling the tribunal verdict. The debate over the right to move review petitions arose when Mollah filed the two review petitions against the SC verdict.
Mollah's lawyers claimed that their clients had the right to seek review as per the constitution, while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam opined that the trials of war crimes cases were being held under a special law, which does not allow any of the party to move a review petition before the SC.
The review petitions were dismissed by the Appellate Division as there was "no merit" in those. The Jamaat leader was executed on December 12 last year.
The same debate surfaced again after the SC on September 17 this year had sentenced another Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee to life imprisonment for his war crimes.
After the SC delivered its verdict in the war crimes case against Kamaruzzaman, it was still not clear whether a war crimes convict has the right to move a review petition.
Yesterday, the Appellate Division said review petitions filed by individuals convicted under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 are maintainable.
Since there is no scope to file a review petition under the act, the SC has exercised its inherent power to reach the decision.
The court said it has allowed both the defence and the prosecution to file review petitions to examine whether there is any error in the judgement on the appeal.
Sentence of a convict, the SC said, cannot be executed unless the review petition is disposed of, but the review petition should be disposed of on priority basis.
The apex court said the jail code provision of seven days or 21 days will not be applicable in executing the sentence.
"If a warrant of death for execution is communicated to the Jail authority after it is confirmed or imposed by this Division, the condemned prisoner should be afforded an opportunity to file a mercy petition [presidential mercy] and he should also be afforded an opportunity to meet his near ones before the execution of the sentence," it added.
"If any review or mercy petition is filed or pending, the sentence cannot be executed unless the petitions are disposed of. So, the period of seven days or 21 days mentioned in sub-rules (I) and (VI) of rule 991 of the Jail Code have no force of law under the changed conditions."
Yesterday, the attorney general told reporters at his office that his office would decide whether it would file review petition against the SC verdict on Sayedee after getting the full judgment delivered on the appeal.
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