High Court set to deliver verdict on 21st August grenade attack case this Sunday

The High Court is scheduled to announce its verdict on the infamous 21st August grenade attack case on Sunday, December 1. 

The news was confirmed on Saturday, November 30, by Shishir Monir, one of the lawyers representing the accused. 

The verdict will be delivered by the bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain.

This case has been under review since the hearing on November 21, after which the High Court placed it in a status of “awaiting judgment.” 

During that hearing, Deputy Attorney General Md. Jasim Sarkar represented the state, while defense attorneys SM Shahjahan and Shishir Monir represented the defendants.

The appeal hearings for the death sentences and other convictions in the case began on October 31. The case had been sent to this High Court bench on October 23, where it is currently being reviewed.

The grenade attack occurred on August 21, 2004, during a rally organized by then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the Bangabandhu Avenue area.

The subsequent trial, which began in 2018, resulted in 19 people being sentenced to death, including former BNP Minister Lutfuzzaman Babar and former Deputy Minister Abdus Salam Pintu. Among those sentenced to death, 14 were members of the banned militant group, Huji. 

Two of the death-row convicts, Brigadier General (Retd.) Abdur Rahim and former Huji leader Sheikh Abdus Salam, passed away in 2021 while receiving medical care.

In addition to those sentenced to death, 19 other individuals, including BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and BNP leader Haris Chowdhury, received life sentences. 

The court also handed down various prison terms to 11 other individuals. Following the trial, the death reference was sent to the High Court, and the prisoners have since filed appeals that are now being examined.