An 18-year wait for justice
Eighteen years have passed since veteran freedom fighter and Awami League lawmaker Ahsanullah Master was brutally killed in a burst of fire at a rally near his house in Gazipur's Tongi.
But ultimate justice is yet to be ensured, because of the lengthy legal system.
Appeals in connection with the grisly murder have been pending with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court for six years, depriving the deceased's family of solace.
But the apex court could not start hearing the appeals filed against the HC verdict in the related case, because regular judicial functions of the court remain disrupted due to the pandemic and long backlog of cases.
Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain, principal defence counsel of the case, told The Daily Star that the Appellate Division is now hearing and disposing of death references and appeals of 2016.
Appeals and death reference of Ahsanullah Master killing case were filed in 2016, and therefore, those might be heard and disposed of soon if they come up before the apex court, he said.
"We [defence lawyers] are ready for placing arguments on behalf of the convicted accused, as they have been suffering in jail for several years," Khandker added.
Contacted, Attorney General AM Amin Uddin told this correspondent that his office will place arguments on behalf of the state when the appeals will be heard by the SC.
On May 7, 2004, assailants killed Ahsanullah Master and student Omar Faruq Ratan, and wounded 17 at the rally of Swechchhasebak League, a pro-AL body, at Naogaon.
Ahsanullah's brother filed the case the next day against 19 people, including Nurul Islam Sarkar, a Jubo Dal leader.
On April 16 in 2005, a Dhaka court handed death sentence to 22 people and life-term to six. A decade later, on June 15, 2016, the HC confirmed death penalty of six persons, including Nurul.
The HC, however, commuted capital punishment for seven others to life imprisonment, upheld life term for two and acquitted 11 of charges.
Currently, five appeals challenging the HC verdict are pending with the apex court, including those by Ahsanullah's brother Motiur Rahman, the government and convicts, attorney general office sources said.
In some appeals, death penalty has been sought for all convicts, while convicts have sought for acquittal from all convictions and sentences in theirs.
Comments