Execution of 2 Convicts: A curious cause list, a claim and talk afterwards

Abdul Mokim and Golam Rasul Jharu were executed at the Jashore Central Jail on November 16, 2017.

They were hanged after then chief justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain and Justice Mirza Hussain Haider of the Supreme Court's Appellate Division upheld a High Court judgment on November 15, 2016.

In the judgment, the HC had handed death penalty to Mokim and Jharu for murdering a former union parishad member of Chuadanga's Alamdanga, Md Manwar Hossain, on June 28, 1994. The two convicts appealed against the HC decision, but the highest court of the country rejected their appeal, paving way for the execution.

All of a sudden, their appeals against the death sentence appeared on yesterday's cause list of the Appellate Division for a hearing, leaving everybody perplexed: Had the state executed two men even before their appeals were heard?

Deputy Attorney General Bishwajit Debnath said it could not be understood without examining all the relevant files and documents.

Humayun Kabir, the state-appointed counsel for the two men, said he learned only a few days ago that his clients were executed. Their appeal was filed in 2013, it has been eight years since then.

The lawyer told The Daily Star that right before the hearing, he got in touch with the families and learnt that Mokim and Jharu were hanged in 2017.

Asked why they did not launch a legal battle after Jashore jail authorities executed the two when their petitions were still pending with the SC, the lawyer said they were not approached by the families of the two.

As his attention was drawn to the matter, eminent jurist Dr Shahdeen Malik said, "Most of the death-row convicts have to depend on the state-appointed lawyers to fight their battles because they come from poor socioeconomic backgrounds, and running a legal battle at the Appellate Division is very expensive. Also, they have to wait for years for the disposal of their appeals."

Mokim's brother-in-law Sofeluddin told this correspondent that they were not even told that he was about to be executed.

"The Jashore jail authorities called my sister and told her to go and visit her husband. She visited him along with her son, but they were not told Mokim would soon be executed," he said.

"The next day, the Gangni police and a union parishad member went to their house and told them that Mokim has been executed and that they have to make arrangements for his burial."

Mokim was an agricultural day-labourer. Jharu's family could not be contacted at the time when this report was filed.

Sofeluddin said their lawyers would appeal to the Appellate Division seeking a judicial inquiry into the execution of Mokim and Jharu to find out the truth.

Sagir Miah, deputy inspector general of prisons (Khulna Division), however, said, "I went through the relevant files and found that all formalities were properly followed before the executions. A petition against the death sentence was rejected on November 15, 2016. The two convicts then begged for presidential clemency. This prayer was declined on October 22, 2017."