The Appellate Division has fixed May 6 for the hearing of an appeal filed by former Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General ATM Azharul Islam against his death sentence in a war crimes case.

The date was set on Tuesday by a bench led by Chief Justice Dr Syed Refaat Ahmed.

Senior lawyers Ehsan A Siddiq and Mohammad Shishir Monir represented Azharul in court.

ATM Azharul was convicted of six charges involving crimes against humanity committed in Rangpur during the 1971 Liberation War. These included genocide, murder, abduction, rape, detention, torture, and arson.

On December 30, 2014, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced him to death for charges 2, 3 and 4. He was also sentenced to 25 years in prison for charge 5, which involved abduction, rape and torture, and five years for torture under charge 6.

On October 31, 2019, the Appellate Division, led by then Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, upheld the death sentence after a hearing. The court confirmed charges 2, 3, 4 (by majority opinion), and 6, while acquitting him of charge 5.

The appeal hearing in 2019 was represented by late senior lawyer Khandker Mahbub Hossain for the defence and the late Attorney General Mahbubey Alam for the state.

The full verdict of the Appellate Division was released on March 15, 2020. Azharul filed a review petition on July 19, 2020, presenting 14 arguments across 23 pages.

On February 26 this year, the Appellate Division granted him permission to appeal the death sentence and asked for a summary of the appeal within two weeks.

BDST: 1548 HRS, April 22, 2025
MSK