Lawyers of convicted war criminal ATM Azharul Islam have met the Jamaat-e-Islami leader in prison after the apex court upheld his death sentence for crimes against humanity in Rangpur during the Liberation War.
A group of five lawyers sat down with Azharul around 10am on Friday, said Bikash Raihan, jailor of Kashimpur High Security Jail, reports bdnews24.com.
"They stayed for about 15 minutes. They discussed about a review petition which Azharul agreed to," said the jailor, quoting the lawyers.
None of Azharul's family members have visited him since the Supreme Court verdict, according to Bikash.
A former Jamaat assistant secretary general, Azharul led the then student affiliate Islami Chhatra Sangha and the notorious Al-Badr militia for his killing mission in Rangpur during Bangladesh’s struggle for freedom from Pakistan.
The International Crimes Tribunal sentenced him to death for presiding over the genocide of over 1,400 people, rape of many women, abduction and torture in Rangpur during the 1971 Independence War.
Azharul subsequently challenged the verdict but the Appellate Division on Thursday affirmed the death penalty handed down by the war crimes tribunal.
A petition to review the Supreme Court's decision will be filed once the full appeals verdict is published, Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, chief of Azhar's legal team, said on Thursday.
If the appeals verdict remains unchanged after the review, he will have the option to seek the presidential mercy. The government will execute the death sentence if he fails to win the clemency.
