The hearing on a prosecution appeal seeking the death penalty for ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal for crimes against humanity has been scheduled for 20 January.
On Thursday, Appellate Division Chamber Judge Justice Md Rezaul Haque fixed the date after the application appeared on the chamber court’s cause list.
The prosecution previously filed the appeal with the relevant branch of the Supreme Court’s Appellate Division on 15 December last year.
The appeal seeks to increase the sentence of Hasina and Kamal to the death penalty for the specific charges of crimes against humanity for which they were originally sentenced to imprisonment until death.
On November 17, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 (ICT-1) sentenced both Hasina and Kamal to death on one charge and imprisonment until death on another charge.
In the same case, former inspector general of police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun was handed a lesser sentence of five years after he assisted the trial by providing evidence and testimony as state witnesses against the other two accused.
Sheikh Hasina and Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal have remained absconding since the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August 2024, following a mass uprising. Consequently, the trial was conducted in their absence.
