Daniel Pearl murder: Sindh govt files review petition in SC against acquittal of Omar Sheikh

(Karachi) The Sindh government has moved a petition in the Supreme Court seeking review of its decision to acquit prime suspect in Daniel Pearl murder case Omar Sheikh, local media reported on Friday.

On January 28, a three-judge Supreme Court bench acquitted Sheikh by extending the benefit of the doubt to him and ordered his release. The Supreme Court issued the verdict on a petition filed by the Sindh government and Pearl's parents against a Sindh High Court (SHC) order for Sheikh's acquittal and immediate release.

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

The top court’s order to release Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh has sparked global outrage while the United States called it "an affront to terrorism victims everywhere" and demanded the Pakistani government review its legal options, the petition stated.

“Being aggrieved of and dissatisfied with the judgement of the Full Bench of this Hon'ble Court Comprising Mr Justice Mushir Alam, Mr Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Mr Justice Yahya Afridi (the latter partly dissenting) in Criminal Appeal No.601 of 2020 dated 28.01.21, the petitioner files the instant Criminal Review Petition for Leave to Appeal on questions of law, facts and ground,” the petition stated.

The petition also requested for an early hearing of the matter.

The move by the Sindh government comes after the United States said it is ready to prosecute Sheikh in US courts.

In a statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was "deeply concerned by the Pakistani Supreme Court’s decision to acquit those involved in Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and murder and any proposed action to release them".

“We are also prepared to prosecute Sheikh in the United States for his horrific crimes against an American citizen," he added.

Blinken maintained, "We are committed to securing justice for Daniel Pearl’s family and holding terrorists accountable.”

American journalist Daniel Pearl disappeared on January 23, 2002 in Karachi. A videotape received by U.S. diplomats in February 2002 confirmed that the 38-year-old journalist was dead.

Authorities later arrested Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a former student at the London School of Economics, and three others who were convicted in July 2002. But in April, the Sindh High Court overturned the murder conviction of Saeed, a British Pakistani national, though it found him guilty of kidnapping Pearl and sentenced him to seven years.

The SHC had also acquitted three other men namely Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib, who had been earlier sentenced to life imprisonment by an Anti-Terrorism Court in Karachi.

Subsequently, the Sindh government as well as the parents of Pearl had filed separate appeals against the SHC's order in the Supreme Court.