Bangladesh apex court plans to end hearing by December 8

The Supreme Court is likely to finish by December 8 the hearing on the appeal of war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami that challenged his death penalty.

 The Appellate Division of the SC said it will hear arguments from Nizami's counsel from November 30 to December 2, while from the attorney general on December 7.

The apex court will hear the reply from the defence on December 8.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha set the dates after concluding the sixth day's hearing on the appeal by Nizami, the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami.

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told The Daily Star that the SC on December 8 may fix a date for delivering a verdict on the appeal as it has given the counsels a timeframe for concluding placing arguments on that day. 

Nizami's counsel SM Shahjahan has already concluded presenting the charges against Nizami, statements of 22 prosecution witnesses, including the investigation officer, and four defence witnesses, their cross examinations and other relevant issues before the apex court, he added.

 On October 29 last year, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 handed death penalty to Nizami on four charges of war crimes, including murder of intellectuals. The 71-year-old was also awarded life imprisonment on four other charges.

Later on November 23, he filed the appeal with the SC challenging the verdict.