Jail until death for Sayeedi upheld

Staff Correspondent: The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has upheld imprisonment until death for Jammat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee for committing crimes against humanity during the liberation war in 1971.

A five-member panel of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice SK Sinha passed the order on the review hearing on Jamaat-e-Islami’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayeedi’s plea and the plea of the state on Monday.

Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain took part in the hearing on behalf of Sayeedi, while attorney general Mahbube Alam moved for the state.

The others justices were justice Abdul Wahab Mia, Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, Justice Hasan Foyez Siddiqui and Justice Mirza Hossain Haider.

Sayeedi who sentenced imprisonment until his death filed review petition seeking acquittal in the case while the state sought the capital punishment for him for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.

In the 90-page petition, Delwar Hossain Sayeedi presented 16 arguments for granting acquittal in the case.

On the contrary on January 12 last year, the state filed a 30-page a petition seeking death sentence for Sayeedi showing five grounds in this regard.

On December 31, 2015, the Supreme Court (SC) released the full-text verdict awarding Delwar Hossain Sayeedi to imprisonment unlit death.

Earlier on February 28, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 sentenced Sayeedi to death penalty for his crimes against humanity during Bangladesh's liberation war in 1971.

risingbd/Dhaka/May 15, 2017/Mehadi/Mukul