The Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan has turned downed Sindh government’s petition filed against Sindh High Court (SHC) verdict in Daniel Pearl Murder Case.
Supreme Court’s three-member bench comprising of Justice Mushir Alam, Justice Manzoor Malik and Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed heard the Sindh government’s plea against SHC verdict in Daniel Pearl Case acquitting the three suspects and reducing the sentence of primary suspect.
The top court remarked that Sindh government has failed to provide convincing evidence backing its plea against SHC verdict and more ‘solid evidence’ needs to be presented before the court for it to suspend SHC verdict.
Justice Manzoor Malik remarked, “First of all, the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl must be proved, Justice Malik said. Evidence must prove that the abductee was Daniel Pearl. What conspiracy took place in Rawalpindi must also be proved with evidence.”
“We should be provided a complete record of the case. I want to look at all the records so that I can understand all the points. The facts cannot be ignored,” he added.
It is to be noted that Sindh government has filed a petition in SC against SHC verdict, whereas additional two pleas have been filed by Ruth Pearl and Judie Pearl against SHC verdict.
Read More: Sindh High Court acquits 3 and overturns death sentence in Daniel Pearl murder case
On April 2, a two-judge Sindh High Court bench overturned the death sentence of British-born 46-year-old al-Qaeda leader, who was convicted in the abduction and murder of Pearl in 2002. He has been in jail for the past 18 years.
The court also acquitted the other three other individuals accused in the case namely Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil. They were sentenced to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs500,000 each by a Hyderabad anti-terrorism court on July 15, 2002.
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.
