The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday set July 30 to deliver its verdict on the appeal filed by Mobarak Hossain, a former Jamaat-e-Islami member and an expelled Awami League leader, challenging his death sentence for committing war crimes during the country鈥檚 liberation war.
A four-member bench led by chief justice Syed Refaat Ahmed set the date after concluding hearings on Mobarak鈥檚 long-pending appeal.
He was convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal on November 24, 2014 for atrocities committed in Brahmanbaria during the 1971 Liberation War.
Mobarak is now in jail.
Defence counsels SM Shajahan and Imran Abdullah Siddiq requested the court to acquit Mobarak, citing contradictions in the prosecution鈥檚 case.
They argued that although the prosecution labeled Mobarak a Razakar commander in Brahmanbaria, the investigation officer later testified that he was not a Razakar member.
The defence also pointed to conflicting statements about the timing of the massacre of 33 villagers in Akhaura. The formal charge claimed that the killings took place between 8:00pm and 9:00pm on August 22, 1971, but the witnesses told the tribunal the attack occurred between 8:00am and 9:00am on August 23.
Imran argued that the conviction rested mainly on the testimony of a single witness, with no independent witnesses presented.
In response, a tribunal prosecutor, Gazi Monwar Hossain Tamim, said that the prosecution had proved the charges beyond any reasonable doubt.
The Supreme Court began hearing the appeal on July 8.
The hearing comes months after the Appellate Division had acquitted Jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam in a separate war crimes case, overturning his 2014 death sentence.
The International Crimes Tribunal found Mobarak guilty on five charges, including genocide, abduction, torture, and murder.
