Mir Quasem’s death penalty upheld

The Supreme Court (SC) has upheld the death penalty for Jamaat-e -Islami leader Mir Quasem Ali for his crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

A five-member Appellate Division panel of SC headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha gave the verdict on Tuesday morning, rejecting Mir Quasem’s appeal to review his death penalty.

The four other members of the bench are Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain, Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Mohammad Bazlur Rahman.

The 63-year-old war criminal is in the jail at Gazipur’s Kashimpur.

On November 2, 2014, International Crimes Tribunal-2 handed down the capital punishment to him over crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

The Appellate Division upheld the verdict on March 8 this year and released the full text on June 6, hours after which ICT issued a death warrant.