Govt asked not to execute Mollah

War crimes convict Abdul Quader Mollah yesterday served a legal notice on the government, asking it not to execute him until the disposal of a review petition to be filed challenging the death sentence by the Supreme Court.
The Jamaat-e-Islami last night called another daylong countrywide hartal for today, protesting what it said was the government’s conspiracy to hang its leader Mollah for political gain and in violation of the Supreme Court rules and jail codes.
The notice came a day after the death warrant of the Jamaat assistant secretary general was issued by the International Crimes Tribunal-2.
Abdul Razzaq, a defence counsel for Mollah, sent the legal notice to home secretary, inspector general of prisons,

deputy inspector general of prisons, Dhaka district commissioner, senior superintendent of the Dhaka central jail and its jailor.
In the notice, he said his client would file a review petition with the apex court after receiving the certified copy of the verdict. The full text of the verdict was released on December 5.
Razzaq also said the death warrant based on which the respondents were taking steps to execute Mollah was defective, as it had been issued in violation of rule 979 of the Jail Code.
According to the rule, the warrant had to be issued by the court/tribunal that had delivered the death sentence.
The ICT-2 issued the warrant without lawful authority, as neither the provisions of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 or the rules of procedure of the tribunal allow it to do so, according to the notice.
Since the warrant had been issued in violation of the law, its execution will be unlawful, he added.
A lawful warrant has to be issued after disposal of the review petition, Razzaq said, adding the respondents were required to give Mollah 21 days on receiving the death warrant.
Meanwhile, Mollah’s family members and the defence lawyers held separate press conferences at the Supreme Court Bar Association. The latter urged the government not to hurriedly execute Mollah without following the jail code.
His family members, however, said they did not care whether Mollah would be hanged.
His execution would give momentum to the Islamic revolution in Bangladesh and fall of the present government, they said.
Jamaat, a key component in the BNP-led 18-party opposition, enforced a daylong hartal yesterday protesting Mollah’s death warrant.
HRW APPEAL
Human Rights Watch yesterday asked the Bangladesh authorities to immediately halt Mollah’s execution on charges of crimes against humanity during the country’s Liberation War in 1971, as according to it the trial was not fair, reports UNB.
In a report released on Sunday on its website, the New York-based global rights watchdog also said Mollah should be allowed to appeal against the death sentence.
The death sentence was handed down on the basis of a retroactively amended law, a move that violates the international fair trial standards, it added.