Bangladesh: Update to BGD36542.E of 2 February 2001 and BGD33052.E of 2 November 1999: Status of the appeals of the convicted assassins of former prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (2001-2002)

A 30 April 2001 AFP report stated that the final ruling delivered by a High Court judge upheld a lower court's sentence of the death penalty for twelve of the fifteen former army officers convicted of involvement in the 1975 assassination of former prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Three officers who were acquitted in a previous appeal ruling, Lieutenant Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed, Captain Abdul Mazed and non-commissioned officer Risaldar Moslemuddin, were sentenced to death in this appeal, which commenced on 12 February 2001 as a result of a partially split verdict of an appeal in December 2000 (ibid.). For further information on that ruling please refer to BGD36542.E of 2 February 2001.

Three accused officers were acquitted in the 30 April 2001 ruling: Major Ahmed Shariful Hossain, Captain M. Kismat Hashim and Captain Nazmul Hossain Ansari (ibid.). Four others of the nineteen originally accused in the case have also been acquitted (ibid.).

Country Reports 2000 states that absent defendants, if convicted, "may not file appeals until they return to the country" (23 Feb. 2001, section 1), which appears to support the 30 April 2001 AFP article, which states that "fugitive convicts would have to surrender to the district judge before filing an appeal." However, an uncorroborated BBC News article reported that the appeals of the twelve former army officers convicted in connection with the 1975 assassination of former prime minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were pending in the Higher Court (27 Nov. 2001).

A 17 February 2002 Daily Star article reported that the hearing for the leave to appeal of the four convicted officers who are in jail would not be held until the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court is restructured. The hearing has been pending since August 2001 as a result of a shortage of judges required to hear the petition (ibid.).

No recent reports on the status of the appeals of the other eight officers sentenced to death were found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Agence France Presse (AFP) [Hong Kong, in English]. 30 April 2001. Nadeem Qadir. "Bangladeshi Court Condemns 12 of 15 Leaders of 1975 Coup to Death." (FBIS-NES-2001-0430 1 May 2001/WNC)

BBC News. 27 November 2001. Waliur Rahman. "Bangladeshi Opposition Leader Loses Protection." [Accessed 24 Feb. 2002]

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000. 23 February 2001. "Bangladesh." US Department of State. [Accessed 24 Feb. 2002]

The Daily Star [Dhaka]. 17 February 2002. Vol. 3, No. 874. "Case Stalled Till Appellate Divn Restructured." [Accessed 24 Feb. 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

IND Country Assessments

NEXIS

WNC

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

Dawn

Dhaka Courier

Frontline

The Hindu

Human Rights Watch

The Independent

Nation Online

The Tribune