DISMISSED

A single word confirmed the death penalty of Jamaat leader Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, chief organiser of notorious Al-Badr force in greater Mymensingh in 1971.

"Dismissed," pronounced Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha in a packed courtroom, bringing to a close the five-year-long legal proceedings in the war crimes case against Kamaruzzaman.

The chief justice and three other judges of the Supreme Court left the courtroom within a minute after they started the proceedings at 9:05am yesterday.

The full text of the verdict would be released within a day or two, said court sources.

Kamaruzzaman, assistant secretary general of anti-liberation party Jamaat-e-Islami, now has only one option left -- to seek clemency from the president.

He was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 on May 9, 2013 for committing crimes against humanity, including mass killings in Sohagpur of Sherpur during the 1971 Liberation War.

The SC upheld the verdict. But the convict sought review of the judgment. Finally, his review petition was rejected yesterday by the four-member SC bench headed by the chief justice. The other judges are Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique and Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik.

As the apex court delivered the verdict, speculations ran high that Kamaruzzaman might be executed yesterday.

Several lawyers thought that Kamaruzzaman would be hanged last night. They referred to the execution of Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah and the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

They pointed out that Quader Mollah and Bangabandhu's killers were hanged on the very day their review petitions were rejected by the SC. Quader Mollah was executed after a short order from the SC reached the jail authorities.

The speculations grew stronger when the Dhaka Central Jail authorities asked Kamaruzzaman's family to meet him at the jail in the afternoon. A large number of journalists thronged the jail gate.

The jail authorities usually allow a convict's family to meet him hours before execution.

Sixteen members of the Jamaat leader's family, including his wife and children, met him around 7:00pm.

Defence lawyers told reporters that the prison authorities would carry out the death sentence only after receiving the SC order. And the convict must be given a "reasonable time" to seek presidential mercy.

Talking to The Daily Star around 2:30pm, Farman Ali, senior superintendent of Dhaka Central Jail, said the prison authorities were ready, but wouldn't carry out the execution until they received the court order.

Around 5:15pm, he told reporters that they were yet to get a copy of the judgment. "I cannot comment on the matter [presidential clemency] until I get the order and communicate the matter to the convict."

Talking to reporters around 8:00pm, Farman said Kamaruzzaman wouldn't be executed yesterday, as the verdict's copy didn't reach the jail authorities.

Earlier in the evening, defence lawyer Shishir Manir told this correspondent that the SC order was yet to be communicated to the convict.

“We are of the opinion that without formal communication of Supreme Court's order, no authority can take initiative to execute Mr Kamaruzzaman," he said.

Contacted at 6:40pm, SC Registrar Syed Aminul Islam said the SC judgment was yet to reach the section that dispatches the court order to the authorities concerned.

WHO SAID WHAT

Following the SC judgment, there was no legal bar to executing Kamaruzzaman, said Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.

If a death row convict seeks presidential clemency, he will not be executed until the president gives his decision. The prison authorities will give him a "reasonable time" to seek presidential clemency.

"If Kamaruzzaman does not seek clemency or the president rejects his mercy petition, the jail authorities will allow his family members to meet him for the last time," Mahbubey said at a press briefing at his office.

Once Kamaruzzaman's family meets him, the authorities will fix the time for his execution, he said.

Law Minister Anisul Huq told reporters that the SC verdict would be executed at the "earliest possible time on completion of the remaining formalities."

The jail code would not be applicable to Kamaruzzaman, and a reasonable time -- a few hours -- would be given to him, said the minister.

Earlier in the morning, Kamaruzzaman's lawyer Shishir Manir said unless they met him, it wasn't possible to say whether his client would seek presidential clemency.

They sought the jail authorities' permission to meet him to decide the next course of action but to no avail.

Kamaruzzaman's family members, however, met him at the jail for about an hour.

The convict's elder son, Hasan Iqbal, later told reporters that his father will have discussions with his counsels and decide whether to seek presidential clemency once the full judgment is communicated to him.

He said his father was not worried and was in good health. Hasan was seen flashing a “V” sign as he left the jail gate after talking to some reporters.

REACTIONS

The law minister, the attorney general, prosecutors, pro-liberation organisations, campaigners for war crimes trial and freedom fighters expressed satisfaction over the verdict.

Freedom fighters and locals of Sohagpur hailed the verdict, and demanded immediate execution of the Jamaat leader.

With the help of Pakistan occupation forces, Kamaruzzaman and his Al-Badr men had massacred 164 civilians and raped many women in Sohagpur of Sherpur during the Liberation War.

"I testified against Kamaruzzaman. I was worried as he filed petitions [appeal and review petitions] repeatedly. But now I am happy. Everyone of the village wants him to hang," said a widow and rape victim of Sohagpur.

Shahab Uddin, commander of Nalitabari Upazila Muktijoddha Sangsad, said they felt relieved after the verdict.

The souls of the martyrs will find peace once he is executed, he said.

Within 75 minutes of the pronouncement of the verdict, Jamaat called a 48-hour nationwide shutdown from 6:00am today, protesting what it said was “the government's conspiracy to kill Muhammad Kamaruzzaman.”