Staff Reporter :
Advocate Amir Hossain, the state-appointed defence counsel for deposed prime minister fascist Hasina said the accused have the right to appeal the verdict before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. However, to do so, they must either be arrested or surrender.
The International Crimes Tribunal has sentenced fallen Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death on Monday in their crime against humanity case.
Both of those have taken refuge in India. “Without getting arrested or surrendered, they (Hasina and Kamal) have no opportunity to appeal in court,” Amir Hossain said while speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon after the International Crimes Tribunal delivered its verdict/Advocate Amir Hossain said, “My clients, Hasina and Kamal, might have received a different outcome.
But that did not happen. The judgment went against us, and for that, I am in agony,” he said.
“I have absolutely no scope to appeal unless they surrender or are taken into custody. Until then, I am unable to proceed.”
The Advocate said he is “deeply distressed” by the death sentences handed down to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal in the July-August crimes against humanity case.
He expressed frustration that he cannot file an appeal unless the two absconding convicts surrender or are arrested.
Earlier in the day, the tribunal sentenced 78-year-old Hasina-currently in exile in India-to death for crimes against humanity committed during last year’s deadly crackdown on student-led protests.
The court identified her as the “mastermind and chief architect” of the suppression that left about 1,400 people dead and 25,000 others injured, ultimately triggering the downfall of her 15-year government.
Hasina, Kamal, and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun had been charged with incitement, provocation, and command responsibility. While Hasina and Kamal remain fugitives, Mamun appeared before the tribunal as a state witness.
