Nizami could be hanged anytime if no clemency petition: AG

UNB, Dhaka: Attorney General Mahbubey Alam on Monday said jail authorities can execute war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami anytime as per the government’s order if he does not seek presidential clemency. “Nizami can be executed anytime as per the government’s order if he does not to seek presidential clemency confessing to his crimes,” he said while talking to reporters at his Supreme Court office after the release of the full text of SC verdict rejecting the review petition of the Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer. Responding to a question about the Nizami review petition, the attorney general said the court found no reason to review the verdict. Meanwhile, the full verdict of the Supreme Court rejecting the review petition of Motiur Rahman Nizami was read out to the Jamaat leader at Dhaka Central Jail on Monday evening. Earlier, the full verdict of the Supreme Court rejecting the review petition of the condemned war criminal reached the Dhaka Central Jail in the evening. Senior Jail Super Jahangir Kabir of the Dhaka Central Jail received the copy of the verdict sent from the International Crimes Tribunal around 7:05 pm. Nizami was shifted to Dhaka Central Jail from Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur on Sunday night. On May 5, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court rejected the petition of Nizami seeking review of its earlier verdict upholding the death penalty awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal. On March 15, the ICT issued a death warrant for Nizami for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971 after the apex court released the full text of its verdict upholding his death penalty. On January 6, a four-member bench of the Appellate Division, headed by the Chief Justice, upheld the death sentence of the Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer. The Appellate Division upheld the ICT-1 order sentencing Nizami to death for the wartime crimes, including genocide and murder of intellectuals. The apex court upheld his death penalty on three of the four counts, while he was acquitted in one. On October 29, 2014, the ICT-1 sentenced Nizami to death for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War. Nizami filed an appeal with the SC on November 23, 2014 challenging the death sentence and claimed himself innocent while refuting all the charges.