Dhaka, January 27: Bangladesh’s Supreme Court Wednesday rejected the review petitions of five convicted killers of the country’s founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members in 1975, setting the stage for their execution.
A four member bench of the apex Appellate Division of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Md Tafazzul Islam pronounced the verdict after three days of hearing of the five of the 12 convicted ex-military officials who are now in jail to face the death penalty.
The five convicts are sacked lieutenant colonels Syed Faruq Rahman, Sultan Shariar Rashid Khan, Mohiuddin Ahmed (artillery) and AKM Mohiuddin and sacked major Bazlul Huda.
Sheikh Mujib, popularly called Bangabandhu, who led Bangladesh to independence in 1971, was gunned down at his home in a posh Dhanmandi area, along with his wife and three sons in a coup on 15th August,1975.
His daughters Sheikh Hasina, the present Prime Minister, and Sheikh Rehana were saved as she was abroad at that time of the massacre.
A total of 28 people, including domestic staff, were killed when a group of junior army officers stormed Bangabandhu’s private residence in a pre-dawn swoop that also toppled his post-independence Awami League government.
Officials and legal experts said, the five could be hanged sometime in February in line with jail code which suggests that the convicts to be executed in between 28 and 29 days after the issuance of the death warrants following the final verdict.
—Agencies