Supreme Court of Pakistan (SC) on Thursday, directed the prime accused in Daniel Pearl murder case – Omar Sheikh.
During the hearing, the top court rejected Sindh government pleas filed against Omar Sheikh’s release in Daniel Pearl murder case.
The three-member bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam decided to release Omar Sheikh – the prime accused in Daniel Pearl murder case.
Daniel Pearl Murder Case
Daniel Pearl – 38, the South Asia bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, was conducting a research on religious extremism and was abducted on January 23, 2002, in Karachi, and beheaded the next month, reportedly by Al-Qaeda.
The main convict, Ahmad Omer Sheikh, was sentenced to death for kidnapping and killing the journalist, and his three accomplices, Fahad Naseem, Syed Salman Saqib and Sheikh Muhammad Adil, were sentenced to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs500,000 each by a Hyderabad anti-terrorism court on July 15, 2002.
Suspects’ defense counsel comprising of Rai Bashir and Khawaja Naveed Ahmed, had stressed that the prosecution failed to prove its case beyond any reasonable doubt against the convicted in any way aided or abetted participated in the alleged crime of kidnapping for ransom as argued by the prosecution.
Sindh High Court (SHC) had acquitted the three individuals whilst overturning the death sentence of Omar Sheikh into seven years’ imprisonment.
In response Sindh government had petitioned in SC against the acquittal of individuals accused in Daniel Pearl’s murder.
