The High Court today upheld the trial court verdict that sentenced 20 BUET students to death and life imprisonment to five others in Abrar Fahad murder case.

The bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain delivered the judgement after accepting the death references and dismissing the appeals filed by the convicts of the case.

The HC upheld the trial court judgement as the allegations brought against the convicts were proven, Deputy Attorney Generals Md Jashim Sarker and Nur Muhammad Azami told The Daily Star.

Details of the grounds and observations on which the HC came up with the verdict will be known when its full text is released, they added.

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The 20 convicts given death sentence are: former general secretary of banned outfit Chhatra League's BUET unit Mehedi Hasan Russel, ex-organising secretary Mehedi Hasan Robin alias Shanto, ex-information and research secretary Anik Sarkar Apu, ex-literature secretary Moniruzzaman Monir, ex-sports secretary Meftahul Islam Zion, ex-deputy social welfare secretary Ifti Mosharraf Shokal, ex-deputy office secretary Mustaba Rafid; former members Mujahidur Rahman Mujahid, Muntasir Al Jemi and Ehtashamul Rabbi Tanim; activists Khandaker Tabakkarul Islam Tanvir, ASM Nazmus Sadat, Majedur Rahman alias Majed, Hossain Mohammad Toha, Shamim Billah, Mizanur Rahman Mizan, SM Mahmud Setu, Shamsul Arefin Rafat, Muhammad Morshed-Uz-Zaman Mondol alias Jishan and Morshed Amartya Islam.

Buet BCL's former vice-president Muhtasim Fuad, former library and publication secretary Ishtiaq Ahmed Munna, former deputy legal affairs secretary Amit Saha and activists Akash Hossain and Moaz Abu Hurayra were given life term imprisonment.

Among the convicts, Mustaba, Jishan and Tanim have been absconding since the incident, while the rest were behind bars.

Muntasir Al Jemy, sentenced to death for the murder of Abrar Fahad, escaped from prison on August 6 last year, but the Abrar's family was in the dark until February 24 this year.

On February 24, the same bench kept the death references (trial court documents for confirmation of death sentences), and the appeals, filed by the convicted accused in the cases, as curia advisari vult (meaning the verdict will be delivered any day), after concluding hearing on those matters.

On October 7, 2019, Abrar, a second-year student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), was beaten to death by a group of Chhatra League activists in a dormitory.

A Dhaka court on December 8, 2021, sentenced 20 BUET students to death for their direct involvement in the murder.

The court also sentenced five other students to life imprisonment in the case.

The documents of the case reached the HC on January 6, 2022, as death references to examine the lower court's verdict. The HC bench began the hearing on the case on November 28 last year.

Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman, Deputy Attorney Generals Jasim Sarker, Khandaker Bahar Rumi, Nur Muhammad Azmi and Rasel Ahmed, and Assistant Attorney Generals Abdul Jabbar Jewel, Laboni Akhter, Tanvir Prodhan and Sumaiya Binte Aziz appeared for the state.

On the other hand, lawyers SM Shahjahan, Azizur Rahman Dulu, Masud Hasan Chowdhury and Mohammad Shishir Manir argued for the convicts during hearing on the death references and appeals.