Pilkhana murder case: Still awaiting appeal resolution

Today is the anniversary of the barbaric Pilkhana massacre. The Pilkhana massacre, which occurred on February 25, 2009, at the headquarters of the then Bangladesh Rifles (now Border Guard Bangladesh) in Dhaka, is one of the most brutal incidents in the history of the country. The misguided members of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) first killed the then-chief of the armed forces, Major General Shakil Ahmed, under the pretext of mutiny. Seventy-four people, including 57 army officials, were killed in the mutiny.

In that incident, 846 people were brought to trial in two cases under the Murder and Explosives Substances Act. On February 28, 2009, the cases were filed with Lalbagh Police Station in the capital. Both cases were later transferred to New Market Police Station. On November 5, 2013, the judicial court pronounced the verdict of the murder case. And in 2017, the High Court gave the verdict.

One hundred and fifty-two people have been sentenced to death, 160 people have been sentenced to life imprisonment, and 256 people have been sentenced to various terms ranging from 17 to one year. 278 people were acquitted in the case. The remaining four accused died before the verdict was pronounced in the lower court.

The death reference and appeal hearing of this case started in the High Court. After 370 working days of hearing, the High Court gave the verdict on November 26 and 27, 2017. A total of 552 people were brought under punishment there. As many as 283 people were acquitted. The High Court upheld the death sentence of 139 of the 152 convicts sentenced to death by the lower court. Eight were given life sentences and five were acquitted. Of the 160 convicts who were given life terms in lower courts, the High Court upheld the sentences of 146 and acquitted 14. Of those acquitted by the lower court, the state appealed against 69, and the High Court sentenced 31 to life imprisonment. Among them, four people were sentenced to seven years imprisonment and 34 people were acquitted by the High Court. This is the first time in the history of Bangladesh that the sentence of such a large number of accused has been approved by the High Court. After a long trial and verdict, the High Court released the full verdict of the Pilkhana murder case on January 8, 2020. However, the murder case has not been settled even today as the hearing of the appeal filed by the state and the defendants against the verdict has not started. As a result, the final settlement of the case is pending.

The state has filed Leave to Appeal in the High Court seeking acquittal and reduction of sentences in total of 83 cases of convicts. The number of such appeals is 20. On the other hand, over two hundred convicts who have been sentenced to death or life imprisonment have appealed against their convictions, totaling 47 cases. Altogether, the High Court has received 67 appeals and Leave to Appeal from both sides awaiting final adjudication.

Attorney General AM Amin Uddin expressed reluctance to term it as a prolonged process, stating, "This is the biggest case in the country's history in terms of the number of convicts and appellants. It's a significant task. Despite the complexity of the judicial process, verdicts have been delivered relatively quickly in the lower and upper courts."

Although the full verdict of the High Court was pronounced on January 8, 2020, delays in the appellate process are expected due to the intricacies of the legal proceedings.

According to the country's chief law officer, "According to the Constitution, there is a provision to file an appeal within thirty days of receiving the copy of the verdict. Even if the appeal deadline has passed, reasons can be shown, and penalties imposed, allowing for an appeal. All appeals have been submitted, and both the state and the convicts have submitted their briefs. Now, the appeals are ready for hearing. This will conclude the judicial process. After this, there will be an opportunity to file a review application, which is a time-consuming matter."

Meanwhile, the trial of the case filed under the Explosives Substances Control Act of BDR Rebellion started in 2011, but it is still going on in the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Court. As the two cases involved the same accused, the proceedings were held for two to three days every month for security reasons. As the proceedings of this case are proceeding slowly, it is still uncertain when the final settlement can be reached. The persons acquitted in the murder case cannot be released as they are accused in this explosive case.

The attorney general said that although there are a large number of defendants in explosive cases, the prosecution may not need the testimony of everyone. It may be possible to prove the case based on the testimony of a few individuals. Therefore, they can announce the verdict without the testimony of everyone. Despite procedural obstacles to obtaining witness testimony, there is no lack of sincerity on the part of the prosecution.

Another lawyer for the defendants, Faruk Ahmed, stated, "278 defendants have been acquitted in the murder case related to this incident. They are also defendants in the explosive case. Therefore, they cannot be released from prison until the case is concluded. That is why we, on behalf of the defendants, want the case to be concluded quickly; however, it seems to me that the prosecution is not serious about concluding the case."