SC to fix date tomorrow for hearing Quasem's plea

The Supreme Court today deferred the date till tomorrow for hearing the appeal of war crimes convict Mir Quasem Ali as conducting lawyer for him was not present at the court today.

The four-member bench of the appellate division of the SC, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, said it will fix the date tomorrow and asked the advocate-on-record to request the conducting lawyer to remain present at the court tomorrow.

Quasem, a member of Jamaat-e-Islami central executive council, filed the appeal with the SC challenging the verdict delivered by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 on November 2, 2014.

The tribunal sentenced Quasem to death after it found him guilty on 10 charges of abducting, confining and torturing people during the Liberation War.

In his appeal, the war crimes convict cited 181 reasons for acquittal on all the charges.

Khandakar Mahbub Hossain, principal lawyer for Quasem Ali, told The Daily Star that he will remain present at the court tomorrow.