Sindh govt files review petition in Daniel Pearl case

ISLAMABAD: A day after the Supreme Court acquitted Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the principal accused in the murder case of American journalist Daniel Pearl, the Sindh government moved a petition seeking review of its decision.

The provincial government through its prosecutor general moved the petition in the apex court, pleading with it to review its decision of acquitting the main accused.

Headed by Justice Mushir Alam, a three-judge bench that also comprised Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Yahya Afridi, ordered that Mr Sheikh, Fahad Naseem Ahmed, Syed Salman and Sheikh Muhammad Adil be released forthwith, if not required to be detained in connection with any other case.

One member of the bench opposed the decision. The bench ruled that it will issue a detailed verdict later on.

Four convicts of the murder case, British national Ahmed Omer Saeed Shaikh, co-accused Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil had moved the Sindh High Court (SHC) in 2002 challenging their convictions handed down by the Hyderabad Anti-Terrorism Court after finding them guilty of abducting and killing American Journalist Daniel Pearl.

The high court overturned the verdict of the ATC and acquitted convicts on April 02, 2020. Subsequently, the Sindh government filed an appeal in the SC challenging their acquittal.

The 38-year-old South Asia bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal, Daniel Pearl, was researching for a story on religious extremists in January 2002 in Karachi, when he was abducted and slain.

Earlier, the government of Sindh submitted sensitive information in a sealed envelope to the court.

Advocate General Sindh said that the main accused Ahmed Omer Saeed have links with the outlawed banned groups. “There is evidence but we could not prove it before the court,” Sindh’s counsel said.