Sentence based on hearsay evidence

A defence lawyer yesterday told the Supreme Court that the International Crimes Tribunal-2 relied on hearsay evidence in sentencing Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah on charge of killing Bangla college student Pallab in 1971.
Two prosecution witnesses -- Syed Shahidul Haque Mama and Syed Abdul Kaiyum -- made the hearsay statements, which were not admissible since those were not corroborated by other relevant evidences, said Barrister Abdur Razzaq. He was placing arguments on the third day of the SC Appellate Division's hearing on Mollah's appeal seeking acquittal in the case.
The ICT-2 on February 5 awarded life term imprisonment to Mollah for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War after finding him guilty in five charges. For each of three charges, among the five, the tribunal gave 15 years' imprisonment to Mollah.
One of the three was: On Quader Mollah's instruction, one of his aides named Akhter killed Pallab, a student of Bangla College and an organiser of the Liberation War, on April 5, 1971. The six-member bench fixed today for further hearing.