Convicted war criminal Md Abdul Quddus secured six-months bail from the Supreme Court (SC) yesterday.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division led by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order on health grounds.

“The 87-year-old has been suffering from lung cancer,” his lawyer Advocate Tajul Islam said.

Following the SC order Quddus can now walk out of jail, he added.

This is the first incident that the SC granted bail to any convicted war crime accused, Advocate Tajul also said.

International Crimes Tribunal-1 on March 13 this year convicted Quddus and sentenced him to 20 years' imprisonment for committing crimes against humanity and war crimes during the country's Liberation War in 1971.