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Grenade Attack On AL rally In 2004

HC acquits Tarique, 48 others calling 2018 trial court verdict illegal

Published : Monday, 2 December, 2024 at 12:00 AM  Count : 483
Staff Correspondent
The High Court on Sunday acquitted all 49, including BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman, accused in August 21 grenade attack cases. Former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar is also acquitted.

At the same time, the HC bench also scrapped the lower court verdict and declared the trial court's 2018 verdict as illegal, in which a total of 49 persons were convicted in cases for attack on Sheikh Hasina's Awami League (AL) rally at Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004.

The HC bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the verdict after hearing the death references and appeals related to the two cases filed over grenade attack on Awami League rally in 2004.

The High Court observed that the trial court verdict in the cases is illegal as it was delivered through illegal way. The whole trial proceedings of the case were illegal, including the charge sheet, it added.

In its observation, the HC bench also said that the trial court had delivered the judgement on the basis of a confessional statement made by Mufti Abdul Hannan, an accused of the cases, who was executed in connection with another case.

The confessional statement of Mufti Hannan has no evidential value as it was taken by force and was not examined properly by the magistrate concerned, the HC bench said in the verdict.

The HC bench also observed that there was no collaboration between [the testimonies of] any of the witnesses. The lower court convicted the accused based solely on the hearsay testimonies of witnesses, which was not correct in the eye of law.

The HC bench also mentioned that the witnesses failed to clarify who had thrown the grenades during the attack and only described the incident. Besides, no investigation officer in the charge sheet mentioned who had supplied the grenades. Hence, the court rejected the death references after hearing the appeals and acquitted all the accused in the cases, the verdict said.

After the HC verdict, Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman told reporters that the government would decide soon on filing an appeal with the Appellate Division challenging the High Court verdict that annulled the lower court verdict and acquitted all the accused of the 21 August grenade attack cases.

"After receiving the copy of the High Court verdict, we would take decision regarding the filing of the appeal against the High Court verdict. The decision will be made after reviewing the reasoning behind the judgment and the directions provided. I think an appeal should be filed," the chief law officer of the state said.

Talking to reporters after the judgment, Advocate Shishir Manir, one of the counsels for the accused, said, "The trial conducted was illegal because it was not based on the law. Hence, the HC bench rejected the death references and acquitted all accused including Tarique Rahman and Lutfozzaman Babar.

Sharing more observations of the court, Shisher also said the court observed that there was no evidence of anyone having seen or witnessed the incident firsthand.

"The court also observed that confessional statements taken from the accused were extracted through torture," he added.

Shishir also said Mufti Abdul Hannan, the then chief of Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami Bangladesh, had given two confessional statements (before he was executed in another case in April 2017).

"We had argued there was no precedent for convicting anyone based solely on a second confession in the 400-year history of the Indian subcontinent. Today, the court stated that the second confession he [Hannan] made was later retracted, and as such, there was no legal basis for this confession," he added.

During the court proceedings, Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Jasim Sarker appeared for the state while advocates SM Shahjahan and Mohammad Shishir Manir moved on behalf of the accused persons.

On November 21, after completion of the hearing, the HC bench kept the death references (trial court documents for confirmation of death sentences), and the appeals, filed by the convicted accused in the cases, as curia advisari vult (meaning the verdict will be delivered any day).

On 21 August 2004, the grenade attack was carried out targeting a rally of the then Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital. The attack, which took place during the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government, killed 24 people including then Awami League women's affairs secretary Ivy Rahman.
Two cases - one for murder and another under the Explosive Substances Act - were filed the following day, on August 22, 2004.

On 10 October 2018, Judge Shahed Nuruddin of Dhaka's First Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced 19 people to death, including BNP leaders Babar and Abdus Salam Pintu, in the two cases filed over the grenade attack.

The trial court had sentenced 19 individuals to death, including former BNP state minister Lutfozzaman Babar and former deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu.
Another 19, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairperson Tarique Rahman, were sentenced to life-term imprisonment.
Eleven police officers, including former inspectors general Ashraful Huda, Shahudul Haque, and Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, received varying prison terms for allegedly obstructing the investigation.

Besides, 19 others, including Tarique, were sentenced to life imprisonment. Another 11 were sentenced to different terms of imprisonment.
Later that year, on 27 November, the judgment, along with all necessary documents, of the trial court reached the death reference wing of the High Court. The imprisoned accused appealed against the verdicts of the court.

In December 2022, a High Court bench led by Justice Sahidul Karim began hearing the appeals, jail petitions and death references. In between the hearings, the bench was reconstituted, and the new bench restarted the hearing.

The 19 people who were given the death penalty but were acquitted by the HC verdict on Sunday include Babar, former deputy minister Pintu, Hanif Enterprise owner M Hanif, former NSI director general (DG) Abdur Rahim, former NSI DG Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, Pintu's brother Harkat-ul-Jihad leader Maulana Tajuddin, Abdul Malek alias Golam Mohammad, Sheikh Abdus Salam, Kashmiri citizen Abdul Majid Bhat, Maulana Shawkat Osman alias Sheikh Farid, Mufti Hannan's brother Mohibullah Mafizur Rahman, Maulana Abu Sayeed, Abul Kalam Azad alias Bulbul, Md Jahangir Alam, Maulana Abu Taher, Hossain Ahmed Tamim, Mainuddin Sheikh alias Abu Jandal, Md Rafiqul Islam, and Md Ujjal alias Ratan.

The 19 people who were given life in prison but were acquitted following the HC verdict on Sunday include Tarique, Khaleda Zia's former political secretary Harris Chowdhury, former BNP MP Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad, former ward commissioner Ariful Islam Arif, Harkat-ul-Jihad leader Abdul Hannan alias Sabbir, Maulana Yahiya, Maulana Abdur Rouf, Md Khalil, Mufti Shafiqur Rahman, Mufti Abdul Hai, Babu alias Ratul Babu, Shahadat Ullah alias Jewel, Arif Hasan alias Sujan, Mahibul Muttakin, Anisul Mursalin, Jahangir Alam Badar, Md Iqbal, Abu Bakar alias Selim Howlader, and Liton alias Maulana Liton.

The 11 people, jailed for different periods, who were also acquitted by the HC verdict on Sunday included former IGP Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, former special superintendent of police (SP) Ruhul Amin, former senior ASP Munshi Atiqur Rahman and former ASP Abdur Rashid of CID, former IGP Ashraful Huda, former IGP Shahudul Haque, Khaleda's nephew Lt Commander (retd) Saiful Islam Duke, former DGFI director ATM Amin Ahmed, sacked Lt Col Saiful Islam Joardar, and former Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner (east) Mohammad Obaidur Rahman and deputy commissioner (South) Khan Syed Hasan.



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