SC verdict on Saudi official Khalaf murder tomorrow

The Supreme Court will deliver its verdict tomorrow on the appeals filed by the government and the accused in sensational Saudi embassy official Khalaf Al Ali murder case.

A three-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, who is now performing functions of the chief justice, set the date after concluding hearing on the appeals.

The government filed three separate appeals with the apex court against the commuting of death sentences of three among convicts to life term imprisonment and the acquittal of another by the High Court.

On the other hand, Saiful Islam Mamun, the convict whose death sentence was upheld by the High Court filed another appeal with the Supreme Court seeking acquittal.

On November 18, 2013, the High Court, in a major revision to a trial court verdict, acquitted one of the five convicts, awarded life term to three others and upheld the death sentence of one in the sensational Saudi embassy official Khalaf Al Ali murder case.

The acquitted, Selim Chowdhury, is on the run while the rest are behind bars.

The HC upheld the death sentence of Saiful Islam Mamun for killing the 45-year-old Saudi embassy official in Bangladesh, who was shot dead near his Gulshan residence in the capital's diplomatic enclave on March 6, 2012.

The three convicts, who were sentenced to life term imprisonment by the HC, are Mohammad Al Amin, Rafiqul Islam Khokon and Akbar Ali Lalu.