The High Court began to deliver its verdict on Sunday in an appeal filed by three convicted policemen challenging a lower court judgment that sentenced them to life imprisonment over the custodial death of car driver Ishtiaq Hossain Jony in 2014.
The bench, comprising Justice SM Quddus Zaman and Justice AKM Rabiul Hasan, began delivering the verdict at 10:45am on Sunday and continued to deliver the verdict till 4:30 pm, setting the next verdict for tomorrow, Monday.
Jony was tortured while in police custody at Dhaka's Pallabi Police Station. A case was filed in this regard in the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court on August 7, 2014, by Imtiaz Hossain, Jony's brother.
The case was the first to be filed under the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act 2013.
After a long trial, on 9 September, 2020, the court sentenced five accused, including the then Sub-Inspector (SI) of Pallabi Police Station, Zahidur Rahman, Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Rashedul Hasan and ASI Kamruzzaman, to life imprisonment and a fine of Tk 1 lakh.
At the same time, it ordered each of them to pay Tk 2 lakh as compensation to the plaintiff or the affected family.
On the other hand, police informants Suman and Russell were sentenced to seven years in prison and fined Tk 20,000 each.
Against this verdict, three accused – Zahidur Rahman, Rashedul Hasan and Russell – filed separate appeals in the High Court in 2020. The High Court accepted the appeal for hearing in 2021.
The appeal hearing began on July 9 this year. After the hearing on August 7, the court set the date for the verdict. The first day of the verdict began today, Sunday.
Senior lawyers SM Shahjahan and Md Abdur Razzak represented the accused while Deputy Attorney General Badiuzzaman Tapadar spoke for the state. Lawyer SM Rezaul Karim was present for the plaintiff.
Defense lawyer Razzak said that the first day's verdict included the statements of 24 state witnesses and their cross-examination.
However, since the verdict is still incomplete, it will be continued tomorrow.
Background and facts of the case
According to case details, on the afternoon of February 8, 2014, at a Gaye Holud programme of Md Billal at the Irani Camp area in Pallabi, police informant Suman behaved indecently with women.
In response, Ishtiaq and his brother Imtiaz got into an argument with Suman.
The police arrived on the spot following a phone call from Suman and arrested Ishtiaq and Imtiaz and took them to the police station.
There, the two brothers were tortured by the police. Ishtiaq's condition turned critical and when he was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, the doctor declared him dead.
After the case was filed, a judicial investigation was ordered. After the investigation, the investigation report was submitted on February 17, 2015, based on which five people were accused and five were recommended to be acquitted.
During the investigation, ASI Rashedul and Kamruzzaman were included as new accused.
On April 17, 2016, the court framed charges against five accused.
Legal aspects of the case
According to Sections 4 and 5 of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013, if a person dies due to torture or neglect by a government official or police officer, those responsible will be severely punished.
The maximum punishment for those convicted under this act is life imprisonment or the death penalty. There are also provisions for fines and compensation.
Senior Supreme Court lawyer Monakeb Bahar told Stream, "Under Section 4 of the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, 2013, it is an offence for a police or government official to torture or cause death by negligence. Under Section 5, those found guilty can be sentenced to life imprisonment or death. Through this, the act is acting as a powerful tool to prevent incidents of torture and death in police custody."
According to the state prosecution, of the five convicted accused, Kamruzzaman (then ASI) was absconding from the beginning.
The other accused, Suman, has been released after serving his sentence.
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