Daniel Pearl murder case: Pakistan Supreme Court says 'no' to request to suspend release of accused

THE Pakistan Supreme Court on Monday(1) rejected the government's request to suspend the release of British-born al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three others in the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

The latest order came days after the government formally joined the review proceedings against the acquittal of the accused amid mounting international pressure.

The court, however, extended the interim detention order of main accused Sheikh, Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib by one more day to hear the government's position in the case.

The Supreme Court on Thursday(28) ordered the release of the accused by dismissing appeals against their acquittal by the Sindh High Court.

The judgement was denounced by Pearl's family as 'a complete travesty of justice'.

The Sindh government on Friday(29) filed a review petition in the apex court against the acquittal of Sheikh and his three accomplices.

Amid mounting pressure from the US and the UN, a spokesman of the Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) on Saturday(30) announced that the federal government will file an appropriate application before the apex court to be allowed to join as a party in the proceedings and further seek review and recall of the court's January 28 judgement.

According to reports, a three-judge bench of the apex court led by Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the government's petition wherein a notice to the Attorney General of Pakistan was also issued and records of the case were sought from the Sindh High Court (SHC).

During the hearing, the Attorney General said that the government has not been made a party in the Sindh High Court and the accused were acquitted without hearing pleas from the government, a necessary step in such cases.

In April 2020, a two-judge Sindh High Court bench commuted the death sentence of Sheikh to seven years imprisonment. The court also acquitted his three aides who were serving life terms in the case -- almost two decades after they were found guilty and jailed.

The Sindh government and the family of Pearl filed petitions in the apex court, challenging the high court verdict.

The Sindh government invoked the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance 1960 to keep the four men under detention.

However, their continuous detention was challenged in the Sindh High Court (SHC). The court on December 24 directed security agencies not to keep Sheikh and other accused under 'any sort of detention'.

Sheikh in a handwritten letter to the High Court in 2019 admitted his limited involvement in the killing of Pearl. The letter was presented to the Supreme Court nearly two weeks ago and Sheikh's lawyer on Wednesday(27) confirmed the letter.

Recently, Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that the country will not hand over the main accused in the case to the US.

Pearl, the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story in 2002 on the links between the country's powerful spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda.