The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today deferred to May 6 the hearing of an appeal filed by Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam challenging his death penalty for crimes against humanity during the country's Liberation War in 1971.

A four-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed said that the full bench of this court will deal with the matter on May 6.

The appeal has been included for hearing in today's cause list as item No. 28.

On February 27, the apex court allowed Azharul to move a fresh appeal before the court challenging his death penalty and fixed April 22 (today) for hearing the appeal. The court passed the order after hearing a petition seeking review of its earlier verdict that upheld the International Crimes Tribunal's ruling sentencing Azharul to death.

Yesterday, Azharul's lawyers Ehsan A Siddiq and Mohammad Shishir Manir prayed to the Appellate Division to hold hearing of their client's appeal today.

The Appellate Division had upheld Azharul's death sentence on October 31, 2019. A four-member bench, led by the then chief justice, Syed Mahmud Hossain, delivered the verdict by majority opinion, nearly five years after the ICT-1 convicted him for crimes committed in Rangpur during the Liberation War.

Jamaat leaders Motiur Rahman Nizami, Abdul Quader Mollah, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Mir Quasem Ali, and BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury were previously executed following the Supreme Court verdicts for crimes against humanity in 1971.