Appeals must be filed within 30 days, whether by Sheikh Hasina or Abul Kalam Azad

ICT Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam talks to the media at his office at ICT on 7 September 2026. Photo : Collected

International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam has described as “illegal” and “unlawful” the opportunity given by the interim government to Abul Kalam Azad, who was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity committed in 1971, to surrender on the condition that he would file an appeal.

The chief prosecutor made the remarks in response to questions from journalists at a briefing at his office at the tribunal today, Monday.

A journalist asked whether the interim government had left a loophole that allowed Abul Kalam Azad to appeal and created an opportunity to invoke the Code of Criminal Procedure. Azad’s sentence has been suspended. If the same opportunity were taken by ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was sentenced to death for crimes against humanity committed during the July mass uprising, would the government be obliged to offer her the same opportunity?

In response, Aminul Islam said, “No, there is no obligation on the government here. There is no question of setting a precedent. The government can suspend, remit or even completely cancel any sentence at any time. It is an inherent power of the government. It may exercise that power in one person’s case and not in another’s. It is entirely at the government’s discretion.”

The chief prosecutor said the issue now was that Abul Kalam Azad had applied to the interim government at the time. The Home Ministry had then issued an order allowing him to surrender on the condition that he file an appeal. That part of the government’s order was in conflict with the International Crimes Tribunal law, he said.

Explaining the grounds, Aminul Islam said the tribunal law clearly states that no appeal can be filed after 30 days. The executive has no authority to issue an order that supersedes or overrides the International Crimes Tribunal law, he said. Therefore, the provision allowing Abul Kalam Azad to surrender on the condition that he file an appeal was “illegal” and “unlawful”.

However, he said, the prosecution had no objection to the suspension of Azad’s sentence, as that was within the government’s jurisdiction.

A journalist then asked about an order that was expected from the Appellate Division on Abul Kalam Azad’s case that day. Azad had filed his appeal more than 9,900 days after the verdict. The journalist asked whether fugitive Sheikh Hasina, who has been sentenced to death, had been watching the outcome of the case and, since no order had been issued that day, what the next step would be and whether her appeal would be accepted.

In reply, the chief prosecutor said Abul Kalam Azad had been sentenced to death in the tribunal’s original verdict. For whatever reason, he had remained outside Bangladesh for a long time and had either been unable or had failed to file an appeal. The law clearly states that an appeal must be filed within 30 days of the pronouncement of a verdict, he said.

The law also states that if an appeal is not filed within 30 days, no appeal will be admissible thereafter, he added. “It does not matter whose appeal it is. Whether it is Sheikh Hasina’s or Abul Kalam Azad’s — in other words, any fugitive accused or anyone who is in prison — the appeal must be filed within 30 days. If someone does not come forward and file an appeal within 30 days, there will be no further opportunity for that accused to file one.”

He said that was why, at the previous hearing of Abul Kalam Azad’s case before the Appellate Division, he had cited the relevant laws in an application on behalf of the prosecution.