Review hearings over Sayedee war crimes case May 14

Hearings on the review petitions filed by the government and convicted war criminal Delwar Hossain Sayedee, against the verdict of the war crimes case which commuted Sayedee's death sentence to prison until death, will start on May 14.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha fixed the date on Thursday.

Earlier, on February 28, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced Sayedee to death for his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.

On March 28, 2013, Sayedee filed an appeal with the apex court seeking acquittal from the charges, while the government side on the same day separately appealed to the Supreme Court demanding capital punishment in all the eight charges he faced.

The SC on December 31, 2015 released the full text of its verdict commuting Sayedee's death penalty to jail unto death in the case. It pronounced its verdict on September 17, 2014.

On January 12 last year, the prosecution filed a review petition seeking death penalty for the influential Jamaat leader.

On January 17, Sayedee filed a plea seeking review of the SC verdict. In the petition, he sought acquittal in all the charges in which he was found guilty.

According to the prosecution, Sayedee was involved in crimes like killing, looting, rape and forcefully converting Hindus to Muslims in Parerhat of Pirojpur district.