The High Court on Thursday began the hearing on death references of 19 convicts, alongside their appeals afresh in connection with the August 21, 2004 grenade attack on an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue in Dhaka.
The bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain began the hearing from state counsel Laboni Akter.
Earlier, defence counsel SM Shajahan who represented former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, one of the death-row convicts in the case, opened the session.
The attack in 2004 left 24 people dead and scores injured, primarily targeting AL leaders and activists.
The then opposition leader and AL president Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped the attack but sustained permanent hearing damage.
Following the attack, two cases were filed on August 22, 2004鈥攐ne for murder and the other under the Explosive Substances Act.
The death reference and appeals had previously been heard in part by the High Court bench of Justice Shahidul Karim and Justice Md Atabullah.
On August 18, the previous bench adjourned the hearing, citing a need for the preparation of the state law officer appointed by the interim government, with proceedings scheduled to resume on October 27.
The adjournment followed a shift in political climate on August 5, marked by a student-led mass uprising that led to the fall of the Sheikh Hasina regime.
Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed subsequently transferred the death references to the bench headed by Justice AKM Asaduzzaman.
Defence lawyer SM Shajahan informed the court that the prior bench had reviewed depositions from 235 witnesses over a year and a half, with the case nearing a verdict.
Justice Asaduzzaman, however, urged a more concise presentation, emphasising the need for efficiency.
In a previous verdict on October 10, 2018, Dhaka鈥檚 Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 sentenced 19 individuals to death and handed life imprisonment to 19 others, including Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman, while 11 additional defendants received varying sentences.
Tarique, the eldest son of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, was tried in absentia, as he has been residing in London since 2008.
The absconding 18 other convicts, including Tarique Rahman, did not appeal against the trial-court verdict.
Former inspectors general of police Ashraful Huda, Shahudul Haque, and Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, former assistant superintendents of the Criminal Investigation Department Munshi Atiqur Rahman and Abdur Rashid, and CID special superintendent Ruhul Amin were among the 11 police officers convicted in the cases for diverting the course of the investigation.
The convicted police officers are now free on bail while their appeals against the sentences are pending.
The other major death penalty recipients include the then state minister Abdus Salam Pintu, his brother Mawlana Tajuddin, intelligence officials former major general Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury and former brigadier general Abdur Rahim, who died later.
The rest of the convicts who received the capital punishment are suspected extremists Mowlana Sheikh Abdus Salam, Abdul Mazed Bhat, Abdul Malek, Shawkat Osman, Mohibullah, Abu Sayeed, Abul Kalam Azad, Jahangir Alam, Hafez Abu Taher, Hossain Ahammed Tamim, Moin Uddin Sheikh, Rafikul Islam and Mohammad Uzzal, and transport operator Mohamamd Hanif.
Besides Tarique Rahman, the political figures who were handed down life imprisonments are ex-prime minister Khaleda Zia鈥� the then political adviser Haris Chowdhury, who died later, and former BNP lawmaker Qazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad.
