ISLAMABAD: A day after the Sindh High Court (SHC) ordered immediate release of the four men charged in the US journalist Daniel Pearl's abduction and murder case, the US State Department on Friday expressed its concern over the high court's order.
In a tweet, the US State Department said that, "We are deeply concerned by the reports of December 24 ruling of Sindh High Court to release multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of Daniel Pearl."
"We have been assured that the accused have not been released at this time," it tweeted.
It further said that the case was still ongoing, adding that it will be "closely following" it, and stands with the journalist's family "through this extremely difficult process."
The SHC on Thursday set aside the detention of four men - including key accused Omer Saeed Sheikh - who were convicted by an anti-terrorism court in 2002 for the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.
Later three of them were acquitted, while the one got his sentence commuted.
Declaring the detention of the accused illegal, the court ordered immediate release of Omer Saeed Sheikh, Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil.
The court further ordered that their names be placed on the Exit Control List (ECL).
Daniel Pearl, 38, was the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal when he was abducted in Karachi in January 2002.
Pearl's wife Marianne Pearl, a US national who was living in Karachi, wrote a letter to the Artillery Maidan police on February 2, 2002, stating that her husband disappeared on January 23, 2002.
Later, a graphic video showing Pearl's decapitation was delivered to the US consulate in Karachi nearly a month after he was kidnapped.
After this, a case was filed against the suspects and 23 witnesses were produced in the case by the prosecution.
Sheikh was arrested in February 2002.
It is pertinent to mention that the Supreme Court is also hearing the appeals of the provincial government and the parents of the slain journalist against the SHC's order.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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