Grenade attack on UK High Commissioner
SC turns down Mufti Hannans review against death sentence
STAFF REPORTER
Three militants of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji), including its chief Mufti Abdul Hannan, have lost in their last legal battle against a trial court death penalty as the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday dismissed their review petitions seeking reconsideration of their death sentences in a case filed over the grenade attack on a Sylhet shrine in 2004 that killed three people and injured 70, including the then British High Commissioner to Bangladesh Anwar Choudhury.
The two others death-row convicts are Sharif Shahedul Alam Bipul and Md Delwar Hossain alias Ripon. Now, the convicts can only seek presidential clemency as a last ditch effort to save their lives.
After concluding hearing of their review pleas, a three-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha dismissed their review petitions paving the way for the government to execute the appellants for the grenade attack.
There is no legal bar for the execution of the death sentence of three militants following the apex court order, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told reporters after the Appellate Division verdicts.
The chief law officer of the state also said that Mufti Hannan and others now only has the option to seek presidential clemency to save their lives from gallows as all legal procedures have been completed. If they dont want to seek presidential clemency, the government can execute them very shortly, he noted.
Advocate Nikhil Kumar Shaha, counsel for
the appellants, told reporters that his clients would take decision soon on whether they would seek presidential clemency or not.
Bangladesh-born Anwar Choudhury, barely 18 days into his new assignment in the country, suffered minor leg injuries in the grenade explosion that took place after Friday prayers at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal (RM) in Sylhet in 2004.
The blast, which occurred at about 1.40 pm rocked the 700-year-old shrine, located 278km north-east of the capital, in Sylhet on May 21, 2004, sending worshippers running for cover. Three policemen were killed and over 70 injured, including Choudhury. Kotowali police of Sylhet filed a case against unnamed accused and on July 31 in 2007, police submitted a chargesheet against four persons. Later, police included Mufti Main Uddin alias Abu Zandal in a supplementary chargesheet.
The Sylhet Divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal on December 23, 2008, awarded death penalty to three Huji militants, including its chief Mufti Hannan, in connection with the grenade attack.
Later they moved with the High Court against the death penalty. But the HC, on February 11, 2016, upheld the tribunal verdict.
After that, the Huji militants filed appeals with the Supreme Court against the HC order, but the apex court also, on December 7 last year, upheld the death penalty for Mufti Abdul Hannan and two others in the grenade attack case.
Later, Mufti Hannan and others, on February 23, 2017, submitted the 100-page review petition through his lawyer on record Nahid Sultana. But, the apex court yesterday dismissed the review pleas, concluding the legal battle in the case.
