The verdict of the murder case of publisher Faisal Arefin Dipon will be announced today (February 10) by Judge Mojibur Rahman of the Special Anti-Terrorism Tribunal in Dhaka. Earlier, on January 24, after hearing the arguments, the court set this date for the verdict.
Prosecutors are hoping for the maximum punishment for the accused in the Dipon murder case.
The accused in the case are: Major Syed Ziaul Haque Zia, chief of the military wing of the banned militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team, Moinul Hasan Shamim alias Samir alias Imran, Abdur Sabur Samad alias Sujan alias Raju alias Swad, Khairul Islam alias Jamil alias Sozik alias Sajid alias Shahab, Mozammel Hussain alias Simon alias Shahriar, Sheikh Abdullah alias Jubayer alias Zayed alias Jabed alias Abu Omayr and Akram Hossain alias Hasib alias Abir alias Adnan alias Abdullah. Six of the eight accused in the case are in jail. The accused Major Zia and Akram are absconding.
Ghulam Sarwar Khan Zakir, counsel for the state in the case and Assistant Public Prosecutor of the court, said, "We think we have been able to prove the charges against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt by presenting evidence and arguments from the state." Hopefully, according to our expectations, the maximum punishment for all the accused will be death penalty.
Prosecutor Golam Sarwar Zakir, presented the state's arguments on January 17, demanding the death penalty for the eight convicts. On the other hand, in presenting the arguments on behalf of the accused, the lawyers demanded their acquittal and expect they will be acquitted. Earlier on January 4, six accused, who are detained in the jail, in self- defense pleaded not guilty in court and sought justice.
On October 31, 2015, miscreants hacked Dipon to death by entering the office of Jagriti Prakashan at Aziz Super Market in Shahbag. At about the same time, miscreants entered the office of Shuddhaswar Prakashani in Lalmatia and tried to hack and shoot Ahmedur Rashid, the owner of the company, writer Sudip Kumar alias Randeepam Bose and engineer Abdur Rahman.