The Supreme Court's Appellate Division has scheduled January 23 for the hearing of a review petition filed by Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam, seeking reconsideration of his death sentence for crimes against humanity, including murder and genocide, committed during the Liberation War. The decision was announced on Thursday by a five-member bench led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed.

ATM Azharul filed the 23-page review petition on July 19, 2020, presenting 14 arguments. Previously, on December 30, 2014, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced him to death. Following an appeal, the Appellate Division upheld the death sentence on October 31, 2019, under the leadership of then-Chief Justice Syed Mahmud and a four-member bench.

The original tribunal judgment found Azhar guilty of charges 2, 3, and 4, sentencing him to death, while charge 5, involving abduction, torture, and rape, resulted in 25 years of imprisonment, and charge 6 led to a five-year sentence for torture. In the appeal, charges 2, 3, 4, and 6 were upheld, but he was acquitted of charge 5. The full appellate judgment was published on March 15, 2020, after which Azhar filed the review petition.