Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem

Mirza Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem (29 March 1916 – 8 July 1997) was a Bangladeshi jurist and statesman. He was the chief justice of Bangladesh from 1972 to 1975. He became the president of Bangladesh in the aftermath of counter-coups in November 1975. He held the post of Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA). Sayem presided over a cabinet headed by the three chiefs of the armed forces. The cabinet included civilian technocrats and politicians. Sayem resigned on grounds of ill health in April 1977 and was replaced by Ziaur Rahman.

Early life and education Sayem was born on 29 March 1916 in Rangpur district, Bengal Presidency, British India, to Mohammad Abdur Rashid and Syeda Rabea Khatun. His father was a sub-register. He passed his matriculation from the Rangpur District School, securing 3rd place in the merit list in 1931. He completed his Intermediate of Arts from Carmichael College in 1933. He later attended Presidency College in Calcutta, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1935. In 1937 he graduated from the Department of Law, University of Calcutta with an LL.B degree.

Career Sayem started working as an advocate at the Calcutta High Court in 1944. After the partition of India in 1947, he moved to Dhaka, East Bengal, Pakistan. He joined the newly established Dhaka High Court. He joined the law firm Sher-e-Bangla AK Fazlul Huq as a junior advocate. He was elected secretary of the Dhaka High Court Bar Association. He was later elected vice president of the bar association. He was a member of the East Pakistan Lawyers' Association. He would be elected secretary, secretary general, and vice-president of the East Pakistan Lawyers' Association.

Sayem assumed the office of president and chief martial law administrator on 6 November 1975, following the 3 November 1975 Bangladesh coup d'état by Brigadier General Khaled Mosharraf. On 29 November 1976, he removed himself from the office of the chief martial law administrator (CMLA) and was replaced by Major General Ziaur Rahman, Chief of Army Staff. Zia had pressured him into resigning from his role as CMLA, with the support of the other service chiefs, Deputy Army Chief Major General Ershad, Brigadier General Manzur, and Brigadier General Mir Shawkat Ali. On 21 April 1977, he resigned from the presidency of Bangladesh on health grounds. Major General—later Lieutenant General—Ziaur Rahman eventually succeeded him as the president of Bangladesh.

Death He died on 8 July 1997 in Dhaka, Bangladesh.