Bangladesh
Hasina Attempted Assassination Attempted assassination of Sheikh Hasina: Hearing on death reference continues
Dhaka, January 12: The hearing on the death reference and appeal in the case of assassination of the Prime Minister in Kotalipara, Gopalganj in 2000 is continuing. Following the hearing on Monday (January 11th), a virtual High Court bench of Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim and Justice Md. Badruzzaman adjourned until Tuesday (January 12th).
Deputy Attorney General Dr. Md. Bashir Ullah and Assistant Attorney General A Mohammad Shaheen Mridha represented the state in the court. Lawyer Amulya Kumar Sarkar was appointed by the state for the fugitive accused.
Deputy Attorney General Dr. Md. Bashir Ullah said the hearing on behalf of the state has come a long way. Amulya Kumar Sarkar, a lawyer representing the fugitives, began the hearing on Monday. There will be a hearing today. The appeal hearing started on September 16.
It may be mentioned that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was scheduled to address the Sheikh Lutfar Rahman Government Adarsh College ground in 2000 as part of her visit to Kotalipara.
Two days before the rally, a powerful bomb was found during a rally on the college premises on July 20. Later, an army team recovered a bomb weighing 76 kilograms from the front of Santosh Sadhu's shop on the north side of the college. The next day, on July 21, another powerful bomb weighing 80 kilograms was recovered from Gopalganj Sadar.
Two separate cases were filed in these cases. In 2010, the two cases were transferred to the No. 2 Speedy Trial Tribunal in Dhaka. On August 20, 2017, the court sentenced 10 accused to death in one of the two cases.
Judge Mamtaz Begum of Dhaka's Speedy Trial Tribunal No. 2 also sentenced one accused to life imprisonment and three others to 14 years in prison. In another case, nine people were sentenced to 20 years in prison. A week after the verdict was announced, the death reference, verdict and case documents sent from the Judicial Court on August 27 were sent to the High Court.
After completing the necessary work as per the rules, the death reference came to the agenda of the High Court bench headed by Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim for hearing.
The convicts in the case are Wasim Akter alias Tareq alias Marfat Ali, Rashed Driver alias Abul Kalam alias Rasheduzzaman alias Shimon Khan, Yusuf alias Mosahab Moral alias Abu Musa Harun, Sheikh Farid alias Maulana Shawkat Osman, Hafez Jahaf Selim Hawladar, Hafez Maulana Yahya, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai and Maulana Abdur Rauf alias Abdur Razzak alias Omar.
