UPDATE 3-Pakistan appeals against freeing Islamists convicted of U.S. journalist Pearl s beheading Reuters 1/29/2021
(Adds Blinken s call with Pakistan s foreign minister)
By Syed Raza Hassan and Asif Shahzad
KARACHI, Pakistan, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Pakistan s government on Friday appealed to the Supreme Court to review its decision to free a British-born Islamist and three others convicted of beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.
The United States has expressed concern over the ruling and top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken repeated a call for accountability in his first phone call with Pakistan s foreign minister on Friday.
A panel of three judges of the court on Thursday acquitted Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh and three other Islamists, who had been convicted in 2002 on charges of kidnapping and murder of the Wall Street Journal reporter.
Kathy Gannon
A police van is driven out from the Karachi Central Prison where British-born Pakistani Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was charged, convicted and later acquitted in the 2002 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, is detained, in Karachi, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. Pakistan is scrambling to manage the fallout of a Supreme Court decision to free the Pakistani-British man accused in the 2002 beheading of American Journalist Daniel Pearl. The Sindh Provincial government on Friday filed a review petition, asking the same court to revisit its decision. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan) January 29, 2021 - 5:18 AM
ISLAMABAD - Pakistan is scrambling to manage the fallout from a decision by the country s Supreme Court to free the Pakistani-British man accused in the 2002 beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl.
Pakistan s government asks court to review decision to release men convicted of killing Daniel Pearl theglobeandmail.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from theglobeandmail.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
EXPLAINER: What’s next if Pakistan frees man in Pearl murder
By KATHY GANNONJanuary 29, 2021 GMT
ISLAMABAD (AP) Pakistan is scrambling to manage the fallout from a decision by the country’s Supreme Court to free the Pakistani-British man accused in the 2002 beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl.
The Sindh provincial government on Friday filed a review petition, asking the same court to revisit its decision.
But even the lawyer for the Pearl family has said a review petition has a slim chance of succeeding because it is heard by the same judges who voted to free Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh. The case appears to have fallen apart because of the contradictory evidence produced during Sheikh’s original trial in 2002 and the decision by the prosecution at the time to try him and three other accused co-conspirators together. According to the Pearl family lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi, this means that doubt about the guilt of one translates into a doubt about all.
A Pakistani man convicted and later acquitted of helping kidnap and kill American journalist Daniel Pearl is set to be released following a Pakistan Supreme Court ruling Thursday.
The Associated Press reported that the court ordered Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh’s release and also dismissed an appeal filed by Pearl’s family and the Pakistani government seeking to reverse the acquittal.
“The Pearl family is in complete shock by the majority decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to acquit and release Ahmed Omer Sheikh and the other accused persons who kidnapped and killed Daniel Pearl,” the Pearl family said in a statement released by their lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi.