Dhaka, August 16: President Zillur Rahman is set to seek the Supreme Court’s opinion to fix the mode of trial of the February 25-26 massacre inside the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) headquarters in which 57 army officers were killed.
A senior Presidential Palace official said the President is expected to sign today the draft containing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s request for the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division reference.
“It will then be sent to the Chief Justice through the Law Ministry, expectedly by later today,” President’s Office Secretary Shafiul Alam told PTI.
The government had last month decided to seek the apex court direction on the trial mode as it was in a dilemma whether the trial should be held under the Army Act or civil Penal Code as the BDR Act provids no scope for trial of such massacres or mutinies in the paramilitary force.
Today’s development came a day before the first ‘darbar’ (meeting) of some 2,500 soldiers with the BDR chief Major General Mainul Islam, the first since the February mutiny.
Islam’s predecessor Major General Shakil Ahmed was killed along with other officers during an identical interaction at the headquarters.
Islam told PTI that it was part of the BDR’s efforts to restore the morale of the paramilitary border guards.
—PTI