21st August Grenade Attack Verdict Tomorrow

The verdict in the much-discussed 21st August grenade attack case will be announced tomorrow, Sunday (1st December), by the High Court.

On Saturday (30th November), defense lawyer Mohammad Shishir Monir confirmed the development. The ruling will be delivered by the High Court bench consisting of Justice A.K.M. Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain.

Previously, on 21st November, the court had reserved the verdict after concluding the hearings. At that time, Deputy Attorney General Md. Jasim Sarkar represented the state, while defense lawyers SM Shahjahan and Shishir Monir represented the accused.

The hearing for the death reference and appeals in the widely discussed 21st August grenade attack case began on 31st October. Before that, on 23rd October, the death reference and appeal hearings were sent to a bench consisting of Justice A.K.M. Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain.

On 21st August 2004, a grenade attack targeted a rally of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Bangabandhu Avenue. In the case filed following the attack, the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 delivered its verdict in 2018. The verdict sentenced 19 people, including former BNP Minister Lutfuzzaman Babar and former Deputy Minister Abdus Salam Pintu, to death. Among the 14 convicted members of the banned militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (HuJI), two, Brigadier General (retd) Abdur Rahim and former HuJI chief Sheikh Abdus Salam, died in 2021 while receiving treatment.

In the case, BNP's acting chairman Tarique Rahman, senior BNP leader Haris Chowdhury, Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain, and 19 others were sentenced to life imprisonment. The court also gave varying sentences to 11 other individuals. The death reference was then sent to the High Court, where the convicted prisoners also filed appeals.