Sayedee - the blame game

Attorney General

There is much to say about the decision of the appellate division to commute two death sentences against Delwar Hossain Sayedee to terms of imprisonment – and over the coming days, this blog will attempt to say them

I was however struck by the front page article in yesterday’s Dhaka Tribune, titled ‘Blame game after Sayedee Verdict’ focused on the claimed inadequacies of the investigators and prosecutors.

Attorney General, Mahbubey Alam is quoted in the article as saying on a talk show, ‘If you knew what sort of prosecutors were appointed it would give you the creeps.’ Alam also referred to one lawyer who was appointed as a prosecutor even though he or she did not have any experience in dealing with criminal cases.

Claims about the inadequacies of investigators and prosecutors are of course not new (and it is certainly intriguing that Alam, as Attorney General, has apparently done nothing to rectify the situation), but it is very odd that he would seek to make such comments in the context of the appellate division upholding five charges against Sayedee.

Sayedee appeal judgment - rolling blog

This is a rolling post looking at the decision (due to be given on Wednesday morning, tomorrow) of Bangladesh's appellate division concerning the appeal by Delwar Hossain Sayedee against the judgement of the country's International Crimes Tribunal, given in February 2013, which sentenced him to death for offences involving crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Independence War of Bangladesh.

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WEDNESDAY 17 SEPTEMBER

11.30 am: Sayedee' death sentence in two cases commuted, and reduced to imprisonment
The appellate division ruled the following
Charge 6   -  acquitted
Charge 7   -  sentenced to ten years imprisonment (previously no sentence)
Charge 8   -  one part acquitted (by majority), death sentence reduced to 12 years imprisonment
Charge 10 -  death sentence, reduced to life imprisonment
Charge 11 -  acquitted
Charge 14 -  acquitted
Charge 16 -  imprisonment for life (previously no sentence)
Charge 19 -  imprisonment for life (previously no sentence)

In summary:
- In relation the two charges where he had a death sentence, one was commuted to a life sentence and the other was commuted to 12 years imprisonment
- in three other charges, where he had received no sentence, he was acquitted
- in three other charges, where he had received no sentence he received in relation to two of them a life sentence, and in the other a sentence of ten years imprisonment