The State has appealed against the Criminal Court's sentence against lawyer Nazim Abdul Sattar for homosexual relations with Bangladeshi citizen MD Alamgir.
MD Alamgir filmed himself having homosexual relations with several local men, including politicians, prominent businessmen, and law enforcement officials. Some of these videos, including that of Nazim and Alamgir, were leaked on social media platforms. Charges have been raised against some, while others have already been convicted.
Nazim was charged with homosexuality in connection to the case. While his trial began at the Criminal Court, Nazim admitted that he had an immoral relationship with Alamgir but said he had not fornicated with him. Due to his admission of guilt, the presiding judge said the case would be decided expeditiously. On September 15, the Criminal Court handed Nazim a light sentence as he had no previous criminal record and had confessed to wrongdoing and repented, sentencing him to one month and 28 days in jail. However, when requested to change his sentence to home arrest, the court decided that he would be under home arrest for three months and 26 days.
The Penal Code allows for a sentence to be appealed at a higher court if the sentence is found unsatisfactory by either party. Therefore, the prosecution filed an appeal in the High Court on Sunday, stating that Nazim's sentence was too light. It is not known whether the appeal was accepted by the court.
The State also appealed the sentence handed to a police officer involved in the case. Police DED officer Abdul Rahman Rafiu was handed a one-year jail sentence for having homosexual relations with Alamgir. In its appeal, the State said the sentence handed to Rafiu was too harsh.
