Bangladesh"s Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the appeals of five men convicted in the assassination of the country"s founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, upholding a previous death verdict against 12 former soldiers convicted for the murder, according to dpa. A five-judge panel headed by Justice Tafazzul Islam delivered the verdict Thursday, after 29 days of hearings, in a crowded court amid heightened security, state attorney Anisul Huq said. Five of those convicted are on death row in Dhaka Central Jail while the rest have absconded abroad. Mujibur, one of Bangladesh"s independence heroes, was killed along with most of his family on August 15, 1975 by a group of disgruntled army officers in a military putsch which overthrew the South Asian country"s elected government. The verdict of death by hanging will be carried out in a month unless the convicts file a review petition to the court and seek presidential pardon for their convictions, Haq said. Defence counsel Abdullah Al Mamun said a review petition will be filed. "We will submit the petition to the court after receiving a certified copy of the verdict," said Mamun, who represented two convicts. If the petition failed, his clients would seek presidential clemency as a last resort, he added. Leaders from across the political spectrum welcomed the verdict in the politically sensitive case. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed, one of two daughters of Mujibur who survived the coup, expressed her gratitude to God by offering prayers after hearing the verdict, her press spokesman said. Cutting short a visit to Italy Hasina, also heads the ruling Awami League, arrived in Dhaka earlier in the day and called upon her party supporters to remain claim. The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said that the nation was relived through the landmark judgement, which came 13 years after filing the murder case. "We have to accept the court verdict and it should not be considered from partisan perspective," Moudud Ahmed, a senior leader of the BNP, told reporters. Quamrul Islam, the state minister for law, justice and parliamentary affairs, said the government hopes to complete the process by January. Bangladesh"s Attorney General Mahbubey Alam described the judgement a historic one, saying that the country would now get rid of the stigma surrounding the killing of the "father of the nation" 34 years ago. He said that the convicted men were allowed all privileges to which they were entitled under the law throughout the trial process, which began in 1997. Mujibur"s assassins had been indemnified by subsequent rulers. A murder case was filed only after Mujibur"s eldest daughter, Hasina, became prime minister in 1996. Fifteen officers were originally sentenced to death, but a higher court later acquitted three of them. Seven of the culprits fled abroad. Authorities earlier put the law enforcement agencies across Bangladesh on high alert to avoid any possible acts of sabotage before and after the final verdict. Immediately after the Supreme Court verdict several thousand Awami League activists took to the streets asking the government to immediately hang the killers of Sheikh Mujibur.
