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Crimes against humanity
Hearing on Abul Kalam Azad’s death sentence appeal adjourned
Published : Tuesday, 8 September, 2026 at 12:13 PM
Observer Online Report
The Appellate Division has adjourned the hearing on an appeal filed by Abul Kalam Azad against his death sentence in a case over crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War.
A four-member Appellate Division bench led by Justice Md Rezaul Haque adjourned the hearing on Tuesday.
The hearing has been adjourned for four weeks due to the Supreme Court vacation.
According to the Supreme Court calendar, the vacation will begin on September 16. The regular court will resume on October 25 after the vacation, including weekly holidays.
The appeal hearing may therefore take place in November, according to people concerned with the matter.
According to information from Azad’s lawyers, he filed the appeal on July 6 seeking condonation of a delay of 4,915 days against the International Crimes Tribunal verdict delivered 13 years ago.
He also sought a stay on the death sentence until the appeal is disposed of.
As part of the process, his appeal and plea for suspension of the sentence came before the Appellate Division on August 17.
The prosecution filed a petition seeking dismissal of Azad’s appeal on the same day.
The matter was subsequently placed at number six on Tuesday’s cause list.
Senior lawyers Ehsan A Siddiqui and Imran A Siddiqui, along with lawyers Mohammad Najibur Rahman (Najib Momen) and Mir Osman Bin Nasim, appeared for Azad.
Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam represented the prosecution.
Senior lawyer Ehsan A Siddiqui said the hearing had been adjourned for four weeks from October 25, when the court resumes after its vacation.
Asked what would happen as the suspension of Azad’s death sentence expires on October 22, lawyer Ehsan A Siddiqui said the court had ordered that no action be taken against him during this period.
Earlier, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Abul Kalam Azad to death on January 21, 2013, in a case over crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War.
He had been absconding before the verdict.
Following the political change after the July uprising in 2024, the Home Ministry issued a notification in October last year suspending his death sentence for one year. Reports of his return to the country had emerged before that.
Thirteen years after the death sentence was handed down, Abul Kalam Azad appeared before the International Crimes Tribunal on January 21 this year to surrender.
After hearing the matter that day, the tribunal ordered that he be provided certified copies of necessary documents. It also said he would remain in the same position until the Appellate Division passed an appropriate order.
After the Awami League came to power in 2009, the government took steps to try those accused of war crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War.
After the trials began, Abul Kalam Azad, a former Jamaat-e-Islami member, became the first person to be sentenced to death. The verdict was delivered on January 21, 2013.
The tribunal said charges of murder, rape, abduction, arson and looting during the Liberation War had been proved against him
-MT
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Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Advertisement: 41053012; 01793317829, 01550707291, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Online: email: [email protected] 41053014; 01550707297 Advertisement: 01550707296
