Bangabandhu murder case hearing soon

Hearings of the appeals of convicted defendants in the long pending Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman assassination case will start before the August 15 National Day of Mourning, said Law Minister Shafique Ahmed yesterday.
The hearings can be held as there is no shortage of judges in the Supreme Court (SC) now, he added.
On August 15 of 1975, Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed along with most of his family members by a band of army men.
“We’ve already instructed the attorney general’s office to take necessary steps to get the hearing of Bangabandhu killing case started before August 15,” the law minister told reporters in his secretariat office last afternoon.
He said concise statements on the present status of the case will be submitted to the Appellate Division of SC in a day or two for starting the hearings.
There is no hindrance to constituting a bench of the Appellate Division by the chief justice for hearing the appeals following recent appointments of four judges to the apex court, he said, adding that the government will also take necessary steps for repatriation of the convicted who are hiding abroad.
The case is now at the final stage, he said, hoping that it will not take too long to bring the adjudication to the finality, as the trial court and two High Court (HC) benches already delivered their verdicts.
He said reinvestigation of the case will not be necessary.
Five of the 12 convicted in the case — dismissed army personnel, Lt Col Syed Farooq-ur Rahman, Lt Col Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Lt Col Muhiuddin Ahmed, Maj AKM Mahiuddin Ahmed, and Maj Bazlul Huda — are now in jail, one already died, while the other six are hiding abroad.
The five convicts filed separate appeals with the apex court in the last week of October 2007 against their death sentences pronounced by the HC.
A special bench of the Appellate Division comprised of Justice Tafazzal Islam, Justice Md Joynul Abedin, and Justice Md Hassan Ameen on September 23, 2007 granted the leave to appeal petitions filed by them.

Courtesy of The Daily Star