The High Court of Bangladesh is set to deliver its verdict tomorrow, Sunday, on the death reference, jail appeals, and regular appeals in the murder case of Buet student Abrar Fahad. The bench comprising Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayetur Rahman has listed the case for judgment in Sunday’s cause list. The Supreme Court’s website confirms the listing under the title “State vs. Mehedi Hasan Russell and Others,” with the death reference marked as “partially heard” and accompanied by related appeals.

On February 24, after concluding hearings, the High Court kept the case as “CAV” (Curia Advisari Vult), indicating that the judgment was pending. Now, it has appeared in the court’s cause list for Sunday.

Abrar Fahad, a second-year student of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Buet, was found dead on October 6, 2019, in Sher-e-Bangla Hall. His father filed a murder case at Chawkbazar police station, and on November 13, 2019, police submitted a charge sheet against 25 Buet students. The charge sheet stated that the accused conspired to brutally beat and kill Abrar based on false and baseless allegations of his affiliation with a student political group. On September 15, 2020, the court framed charges against the accused.

On December 8, 2021, the Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 sentenced 20 accused to death and five others to life imprisonment. The case was sent to the High Court for death sentence approval, officially recorded as a death reference, on January 6, 2022.

In Bangladesh, a trial court’s death sentence must be reviewed and approved by the High Court before execution, known as a death reference. Convicts can also file jail appeals and regular appeals against their sentences, which are typically heard together with the death reference.

Following the trial court’s verdict, the convicts in custody filed jail appeals and regular appeals. The High Court admitted the jail appeals on January 26, 2022, and the convicts also filed regular appeals separately. The combined hearing of the death reference, jail appeals, and regular appeals was conducted in the High Court.

The hearing resumed on February 10 this year, with daily proceedings except for one day, concluding on February 24, when the case was marked as pending for judgment.

Attorney General Md. Asaduzzaman, Deputy Attorneys General Md. Jasim Sarker, Khandaker Bahar Rumi, Noor Mohammad Azmi, and Russell Ahmed, along with Assistant Attorneys General Abdul Jabbar Jewel, Laboni Akter, Tanvir Pradhan, and Sumaiya Binte Aziz, represented the state in the hearings. Defense lawyers included senior advocate SM Shahjahan, Azizur Rahman Dulu, Masud Hasan Chowdhury, and Mohammad Shishir Monir.