Govt files appeal against acquittal of Tarique, Babar and others in 21 August grenade attack case
On 21 August 2004, a grenade attack was carried out targeting a rally of the Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital and 24 people were killed
The state has filed an appeal against the acquittal of BNP's acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, who was sentenced to life imprisonment, and former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, who was sentenced to death, along with other accused in the 21 August grenade attack case.
The Attorney General's office confirmed the appeal today (19 March). Additionally, the matter has been included in the Supreme Court's appellate division's agenda.
Earlier on 12 January, the High Court delivered a verdict acquitting all accused, including Tarique Rahman and Lutfozzaman Babar, from the highly controversial 21 August grenade attack case.
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The bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the judgment, declaring the whole trial proceedings of the case, including the charge sheet, illegal.
The verdict further mentioned that the charge sheet based on which the lower court conducted the trial was not legally acceptable.
Deputy Attorney General Mohammad Jasim Sarker represented the prosecution on behalf of the state. The defence attorneys for the accused were advocates SM Shahjahan and Mohammad Shishir Manir.
Talking to reporters after the judgment, Manir said the trial conducted was illegal because it was not based on the law. "The court said there was no collaboration between [the testimonies of] any of the witnesses. The conviction was based solely on the hearsay testimonies of witnesses."
Manir said the court also mentioned that the witnesses failed to clarify who had thrown the grenades during the attack and only described the incident. "Besides, no investigation officer in the charge sheet mentioned who had supplied the grenades."
Sharing more observations of the court, the lawyer said the court observed that there was no evidence of anyone having seen or witnessed the incident firsthand.
Grenade attack
On 21 August 2004, the grenade attack was carried out targeting a rally of the Awami League President Sheikh Hasina on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital.
The attack, which took place during the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami coalition government, killed 24 people including then Awami League women's affairs secretary Ivy Rahman.
On 10 October 2018, Judge Shahed Nuruddin of Dhaka's First Speedy Trial Tribunal sentenced 19 people to death, including BNP leaders Babar and Abdus Salam Pintu, in the two cases filed over the grenade attack.
Besides, 19 others, including Tarique, were sentenced to life imprisonment. Another 11 were sentenced to different terms of imprisonment.
Later that year, on 27 November, the judgment, along with all necessary documents, of the trial court reached the death reference wing of the High Court. The imprisoned accused appealed against the verdicts of the court.
In December 2022, a High Court bench led by Justice Sahidul Karim began hearing the appeals, jail petitions and death references. In between the hearings, the bench was reconstituted, and the new bench restarted the hearing.
