SC adjourns hearing of Daniel Pearl murder case till tomorrow

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard an appeal of the Sindh government in Daniel Pearl murder case, ARY News reported.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam, heard appeals filed by the Sindh government and parents of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, challenging the April 02 Sindh High Court verdict that overturned the sentences of four convicts in the case.

Justice Mushir Alam asked, whether the email sent for ransom was verified and its geo-fencing happened? “Email could not be authenticated and geo-fencing technology was not existed in 2002,” Sindh government’s counsel Farooq H. Naik said.

“The phone call could be traced,” Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, another member of the bench, remarked.

“When the email was not verified, how can be said that it was sent by the abductors,” the court questioned.

“It is unfortunate that the wife of the slain journalist didn’t join the investigation,” Justice Masood remarked. “The investigation officials should have summoned wife of Daniel Pearl to get the email confirmed,” the bench further remarked.

“It has been proved that Daniel Pearl was coaxed to be kidnapped,” Sindh’s counsel Naik said.

“He was persuaded or he himself went, it has not been proved,” Justice Tariq Masood remarked.

The bench adjourned further hearing of the case till Thursday (tomorrow).

In an earlier hearing Farooq Naik said that four accused including Ahmed Omer Saeed were arrested, while seven others were at large.

The accused had hatched kidnapping plot of Daniel Pearl, a US national reporting for the Wall Street Journal, in a Rawalpindi hotel, Naik said. “They sent an email to the victim’s wife after kidnapping and demanded ransom money,” the counsel further said.

The accused slain Daniel Pearl after their demand was not met, Sindh’s counsel said. They also released the video of the slaughter causing fear and harassment in public.

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

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