Bangladesh’s Appellate Division has set September 7 to decide whether it will admit for hearing an appeal filed by Maulana Abul Kalam Azad against his death sentence in a crimes against humanity case linked to the 1971 Liberation War. A bench led by the chief justice issued the order on Monday, August 31. Barrister Ehsan Abdullah Siddik and Barrister Najib Momen represented Azad in court.

Azad filed the appeal on August 10 against the death penalty verdict issued by the International Crimes Tribunal. The tribunal sentenced him to death in absentia on January 21, 2013. The report describes the verdict as the first in a crimes against humanity case 41 years after Bangladesh’s independence. He had faced allegations of crimes against humanity at different locations in Faridpur during the Liberation War.

After remaining absconding for a long period, Azad surrendered before the International Crimes Tribunal on January 21 this year. The report says the president suspended his death sentence for one year on condition that he surrender and file an appeal. The Home Ministry issued a gazette notification on the sentence suspension on October 22, while International Crimes Tribunal-2 directed that necessary case documents be supplied for filing the appeal.