Lawyers of war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury today said of moving a review against the appeal verdict that upheld death penalty for the BNP leader.

"Earlier, the tribunal handed down punishment upon false testimony," said Khandaker Mahbub Hossain at a post-verdict press briefing.

"The Appellate Division has upheld his (SQ Chowdhury) death penalty," he said. "We will file a review petition after getting full judgment," he told the reporters at Supreme Court Bar Association office.

If moved, the review petition will have to be filed within 15 days after the top court releases its full verdict. If no avail, then SQ Chowdhury will have to plea to the president for his life.

Bangladesh's top court today upheld the death penalty for BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury for the crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War of 1971.

Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha announced the verdict within a short span of time after 9:00am this morning. Grounds of the judgment could not be known since the full text was not released yet.

The appeal verdict is mostly unchanged from that delivered by a war crimes tribunal two years ago except that SQ Chowdhury was acquitted of murdering Satish Chandra Palit – the charge for which he was given 20 years in prison.