BDR Mutiny: High Court may release full 28,000-page verdict soon
The High Court is likely to release, within a week or two, the full text of its verdict that confirmed death penalty for 139 accused and upheld life imprisonment of 185 others for their involvement in the massacre during the BDR mutiny in 2009.
The three judges of a special HC bench have already completed writing the drafts of the judgment containing more than 28,000 pages -- in the biggest-ever criminal case in the country’s history in terms of the number of accused and people convicted.
The judges are now scrutinising the verdict, court sources said.
Judges of the bench -- Justice Md Shawkat Hossain, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder -- will sign the verdict after completion of the relevant procedures and then the full text of the verdict will be released.
The sources, however, could not share the findings -- including the grounds and observations -- on which the judges announced the verdict in November 2017.
Advocate Aminul Islam, a defence lawyer for more than 400 accused of the case, recently told The Daily Star that his clients can file appeals with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court after receiving the full text of the HC verdict.
“My clients will file appeals with the Appellate Division seeking acquittal of the charges on which their convictions and sentences were upheld by the High Court. The appeals will be filed in 30 days from the date of receiving the certified copy of the High Court verdict,” he added.
On November 27, 2017, the special HC bench pronounced the verdict that confirmed death penalty for 139 of the 152 accused who were awarded capital punishment by a lower court for their involvement in the carnage during the mutiny by the paramilitary force members.
The HC commuted death sentence of eight to life imprisonment and acquitted four others. One died during the HC hearing of the appeals and death references.
The court upheld life imprisonment of a total 185 convicts and 10 years’ jail sentence of three.
The mutiny on February 25-26, 2009 left the nation shocked and numb -- as details of the unthinkable cruelty perpetrated at the Pilkhana headquarters of the paramilitary force emerged. BDR was later renamed Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB).
On November 5, 2013, a Dhaka court awarded death sentence to 150 BDR members and two civilians, and life imprisonment to 160 others in the case.
It also handed down rigorous imprisonment of different terms -- ranging from one year to 14 years -- to 256 people, mostly BDR soldiers. It acquitted the remaining 278, but the government later appealed against the acquittal of 69 of them.