Staff Reporter :
The complete High Court verdict in Abrar Fahad murder case, upholding the lower court’s death penalty for 20 convicts and life imprisonment for five others, was published on Saturday.
Earlier on March 16, a High Court bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the 131-page verdict in the murder case of Abrar Fahad, a student Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman, defense lawyers, family members of the accused, and the victim Abrar Fahad’s brother Abrar Fayaz and father Barkat Ullah were present in the court during releasing the full text of the verdict.
In a brief reaction following the judgment, Abrar Fayaz said, “The verdict has been upheld. We are certainly satisfied. We hope that necessary legal processes will be completed soon for execution of the judgment”
Abrar’s father Barkat Ullah said, “The lower court’s verdict has been upheld. We are temporarily satisfied. We urge the government to implement the verdict without delay.”
Responding to a journalist’s question about escaping one of the convicts from prison, he said, “We learned about it six months later. This question should be asked to the prison authorities, not us. We can’t comment on that.”
Previously after conclusion of the hearing, the High Court kept the case under verdict consideration (CAV) on February 24. The court then delivered the verdict accordingly.
On that day, the state was represented in court by Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman, Deputy Attorneys General Md. Jasim Sarkar, Khandaker Bahar Rumi, Nur Mohammad Azmi, and Russell Ahmed, along with Assistant Attorneys General Abdul Jabbar Jewel, Laboni Akhter, Tanvir Pradhan, and Sumaiya Binte Aziz.
The defense team included senior lawyer SM Shahjahan, and lawyers Azizur Rahman Dulu, Masud Hasan Chowdhury, and Mohammad Shishir Monir.
The death reference in the case reached the High Court on January 6, 2022. According to the Criminal Procedure Code, when a trial court sentences someone to death, the case must be sent to a higher court for approval. Later, the imprisoned convicts appealed, and several also filed criminal appeals.
On December 8, 2021, the court sentenced 20 individuals to death and five others to life imprisonment in the Abrar Fahad murder case.
The verdict was delivered by Judge Abu Zafar Md. Kamruzzaman of Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal-1.
The individuals sentenced to death are: Mehedi Hasan Russell, Md. Anik Sarkar alias Apu, Mehedi Hasan Robin alias Shanto, Ifti Mosharraf Sakal, Md. Moniruzzaman Monir, Meftahul Islam Jion, Md. Majedur Rahman Majed, Md. Mujahidur Rahman Mujahid, Khandaker Tabakarul Islam alias Tanvir, Hossain Mohammad Toha, Md. Shamim Billah, Md. Sadat ASM Najmus Sadat, Muntasir Al Jemi, Md. Mizanur Rahman Mizan, SM Mahmud Setu, Shamsul Arefin Rafat, Md. Morshed alias Morshed Amartya Islam, Ehteshamul Rabbi alias Tanim, Mohammad Morshed Uzzaman Mondol alias Jisan, and Mujtaba Rafid.
