Appeals unresolved after eight years

Twelve years after seven men were abducted and murdered in Narayanganj, their families are still waiting for the country’s highest court to deliver a final verdict.

The case moved relatively quickly through the trial court and the High Court, but the appeals have remained pending before the Appellate Division for nearly eight years.

For families who once believed justice was within reach, the prolonged delay has brought renewed frustration and despair.

On April 27, 2014, Narayanganj City Corporation councillor and panel mayor Nazrul Islam, lawyer Chandan Sarkar and five others were abducted from the Dhaka-Narayanganj Link Road.

The other victims were Nazrul’s associates Tajul Islam, Sirajul Islam Liton and Moniruzzaman Swapan, Swapan’s driver Jahangir Alam, and Chandan’s driver Ibrahim.

Their bodies were later recovered from the Shitalakkhya River. Investigators found that several senior officers of the Rapid Action Battalion had been directly involved in the abductions and murders.
‘We are still waiting’

Selina Akter Beauty, wife of Nazrul Islam, said the families had expected the case to be resolved long ago. She alleged that political influence during the Awami League government contributed to the delay and said the case had also remained unresolved under the interim administration.

“We now expect justice from the current government,” she told The New Nation.

Beauty recalled that former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia had visited the family after the killings and assured them that the trial would be expedited if the BNP returned to power.

“We are holding on to that assurance,” she said. “We seek the prime minister’s intervention so that the case can be disposed of quickly.”

Hope after trial court verdict fades
On January 16, 2017, a Narayanganj court convicted 35 people in the case.

Twenty-six of them—including former Narayanganj councillor Nur Hossain and 16 former RAB personnel—were sentenced to death. Nine other former RAB members received prison terms of varying lengths.

High Court upheld 15 death sentences
On August 22, 2018, the High Court delivered its verdict on the death references and appeals.

It upheld the death sentences of 15 convicts and commuted the death penalties of 11 others to life imprisonment. The prison terms of the remaining convicts were also upheld.

The matter subsequently reached the Appellate Division but has yet to receive final disposal.

Advocate Mohammad Sakhawat Hossain Khan, a prosecution lawyer in the case and administrator of Narayanganj City Corporation, alleged that political interference under the previous government had slowed the appeal proceedings.

He claimed that several convicts had links to influential Awami League figures and had received political protection.

“We are maintaining communication with the Appellate Division,” he said. “We hope the case will be concluded this year.”

Case awaits leave-to-appeal hearing
Narayanganj District and Sessions Judge’s Court Public Prosecutor Abul Kalam Azad Zakir said the case remained pending at the leave-to-appeal stage.

He said preparation and sequencing of the paper books were necessary before the matter could proceed.

Although the process normally takes time, he described the delay in this case as unusually long.
He also pointed to the Appellate Division’s heavy case backlog and the limited number of judges available to hear the cases.

Zakir alleged that political influence during the previous government had contributed to the delay. He said discussions had since been held with the Attorney General’s Office to expedite the proceedings.

Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Mehedi Hasan said the appeal had been delayed because it had not yet reached its place on the court’s hearing schedule.

He said Attorney General Mohammad Asaduzzaman had recently assured stakeholders that effective measures would be taken to secure the speedy disposal of the case.

“We hope the case will be resolved soon,” Hasan said.
For the victims’ families, however, assurances are no longer enough.

After 12 years of grief and nearly eight years of waiting at the final stage of the judicial process, they say justice will remain incomplete until the country’s highest court delivers its verdict.