'Not much to prepare for'

Quader Mollah can be executed at a very short notice since some preparations have already been completed, according to prisons officials.

"Some preparations, like the meeting with relatives, were completed on Tuesday when he was scheduled to be hanged," an official told The Daily Star seeking anonymity.

According to the Attorney General, the government will issue a notice for Mollah's execution, as per Section 20 (3) of the International Crimes Tribunal Act, now that the Supreme Court has disposed of the review petition.

The Jail Code provision, which says a condemned prisoner would be executed after 20 and before 28 days from the date of issuing warrant of execution, is not applicable for Mollah since he was tried under the ICT law, he said at a press conference at his office in the capital.

Contacted by The Daily Star, a prisons official said the jail authorities, on receiving order from the government, would inform Mollah about his execution and ask him to prepare for that.

"He will be given bath and asked whether he has any last wish," said the official of Dhaka Central Jail, where the death row war criminal has been kept.

Mollah will get time to say his prayer.

"A moulvi would be sent to him to administer touba (oath of penance) if he wishes," the official added.

Meantime, the authorities will not need much time to set up the gallows "since everything has been kept is ready", he said.