20 years in condemned cell!

A death-row convict in Ramna Batamul bomb blasts case, which killed ten people at Pahela Baishakh celebrations in 2001, has been in a condemned cell for the last 20 years.

The case has been included in the High Court's hearing lists 375 times since 2014, but the benches concerned adjourned the hearing each time following the state's adjournment prayers, said Mohammad Shishir Manir, a defence lawyer for the convict, Moulana Akbar Hossain alias Helaluddin.  

Yesterday, Manir prayed to the HC to grant bail to his client or to order the jail authorities to shift him to a normal cell after the HC once again adjourned till October 24 the hearing on the death reference and appeals in the case.

The HC bench led by Justice Krishna Debnath and ASM Abdul Mobin asked lawyer Manir to submit a written application in this regard to this court.

Contacted, Manir told The Daily Star that he will submit the application to the HC next week.

There is no evidence and documents to prove charges brought against the convicted accused of the case, he said, adding that the trial court has delivered an "emotional verdict" in the case.

"My client has been suffering in a condemned cell for around 20 years although there is no evidence against him," he added.

Meanwhile, the HC bench passed the adjournment order after Deputy Attorney General Shahin Ahmed Khan sought time for hearing the matter.

He told the HC that the state wants to place its arguments in this case in physical presence after ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is over.

On March 14 this year, Deputy Attorney General Shahin Ahmed Khan sought adjournment from the HC bench led by Justice Krishna Debnath for hearing the case, saying that the attorney general will place arguments on the issue.

Earlier, two separate HC benches had refused to hear the same matter for different reasons.

If a lower court sentences any person to death, its judgment is examined by the HC through hearing arguments for confirmation of the death sentence.

The case documents and judgment reach as death references to the HC from the lower court as per the relevant rules of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The HC bench led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim had started hearing the death references and appeals of the Ramna case on January 8, 2017; after hearing for several days, it adjourned the hearing on February 22 the same year.

This bench then dropped the matters from its cause list on August 8, 2017 as state counsel had not officially informed it about the execution of Mufti Hannan.

Subsequently, the chief justice assigned the HC bench led by Justice Md Ruhul Quddus to finish the hearing of the death references and appeals.

But this bench too could not hear the case as its hearing jurisdiction was reconstituted.

THE RAMNA BLASTS

Two bombs went off during Bangla New Year 1408 celebrations on April 14, 2001 organised by Chhayanaut, a leading cultural organisation, at Ramna Batamul in Dhaka. Ten people were killed and dozens injured in the incident.

On June 23, 2014 a Dhaka court handed down the death penalty to eight militants of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji), including its top leader Mufti Abdul Hannan, for the killings. Six other militants of the banned Islamist outfit were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in the blasts.

The accused who got capital punishment by the trial court are Mufti Abdul Hannan, Moulana Akbar Hossain alias Helaluddin, Moulana Mohammad Tajuddin, Hafez Jahangir Alam Badar, Moulana Abu Bakar alias Selim Hawlader, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hye, and Arif Hasan Suman.

The court awarded life imprisonment to Moulana Abu Taher, Moulana Sabbir alias Abdul Hannan, Moulana Yahiya, Moulana Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid, Moulana Abdur Rouf, and Shahadat Ullah alias Jewel.

Nine of the convicted accused are in jail while five -- Tajuddin, younger brother of BNP leader Abdus Salam Pintu, Hafez Jahangir, Moulana Abu Bakar, Mufti Shafiqur, and Mufti Hye -- are absconding.

Mufti Abdul Hannan, one of the country's most notorious militants involved in plotting and carrying out terror attacks by Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh, was executed at Kashimpur High Security Prison on April 13, 2017.

Hannan was executed for carrying out a grenade attack on the then British High Commissioner Anwar Choudhury in Sylhet on May 21, 2004.