Daniel Pearl case: Supreme Court dismisses Sindh’s appeal against verdict
The Supreme Court dismissed on Monday the Sindh’s government appeal asking for a stay order in the Sindh High Court’s verdict in the Daniel Pearl murder case.
Pearl, who worked with the Wall Street Journal, was killed in Karachi in 2002. His killers were initially handed death sentences but they challenged the sentences in the Sindh High Court.
The court heard their appeals after 18 years and acquitted Adil Sheikh, Salman Saqib and Fahad Nasim on April 2. It even commuted the death sentence of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to seven years and a fine of Rs2,000,000 was imposed on him.
On April 22, the Sindh government challenged the Sindh High Court verdict and asked the Supreme Court for a stay on the verdict.
A three-member bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, heard the case on Monday.
The Sindh government lawyer said that the acquitted men were not released after the verdict was announced and kept in detention over the Maintenance of Public Order. The detention period under the MPO will end on July 2, he said.
The Sindh government lawyer said that one suspect has been linked to working with a terrorist organisation in India, while another one with Afghanistan. “There will be serious consequences if the suspects are freed,” the lawyer added.
Justice Yahya Khan Afridi said that the men have been acquitted by a court. “How can you still call them terrorists?”
We can’t suspend the high court’s verdict without any solid evidence, said Justice Alam. “The Sindh government, however, may extend the MPO if it wants.”
The case has been adjourned till September.
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