The Supreme Court has upheld the High Court verdict that sentenced a man to death and three others to life term imprisonment in the murder of Saudi Arabian embassy official Khalaf Al-Ali.
A four-member bench of Appellate Division led by acting Chief Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah announced the verdict on Wednesday morning.
On December 30, 2012, a speedy trial tribunal sentenced five people –Saiful Islam Mamun, Md Al Amin, Akbar Ali Lalu and Rafiqul Islam and Selim Chowdhury – to death over the murder.
They all moved to the High Court and three of them – Al-Amin, Akbar and Rafiqul – had their penalty commuted to life term imprisonment and Selim got acquittal.
The court, however, upheld the death sentence of Saiful, who, according to a confessional statement by Al-Amin, was carrying a revolver, shot Khalaf and ran away while mugging him.
The jail authorities will start the process for executing the verdict against Saiful once they get the certified copy from the apex court. The process will be halted if he files a review plea or seeks presidential mercy.
Khalaf Al Ali, 45, a non-diplomatic official with the consular section of the embassy, was shot near his Gulshan residence on the night of March 5, 2012. He succumbed to his injuries at a hospital a day later.
A murder case was filed with Gulshan police two days after the killing. More than five months later on September 20, police pressed charges against five people in the murder case.
