Daniel Pearl case: SHC issues notice to Sindh AG, PG over detention of acquitted men

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Wednesday issued notices to Advocate General (AG) and Prosecutor General (PG) of Sindh over detention of four men acquitted in the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

A division bench of SHC sought the reply till Aug 07 when counsel for the four men Nadeem Ahmed Azar moved the court against detention of four persons, acquitted by SHC.

Counsel submitted that Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib are being detained under Forth Schedule despite their acquittal by SHC. Counsel stated that his clients have been imprisoned for the last twenty years and now their detention is unjust.

Justice Abdul Malik Gaddi asked the government attorney to detain the accused, who replied that he didn't receive any notice in this case. Justice Malik Gaddi observed that a high court board is constituted for detaining in this kind of cases and questioned whether any board has been constituted at high court level in Daniel Pearl Case.

Counsel for Ahmed Omar Sheikh and others submitted that no such board has been constituted by Home Department, which extended the detention period by issuing a notification in this regard.

According to notification of Sindh government, the detention of the four men acquitted in the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl has been extended. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib will be detained for three more months, according to a notification dated 1 July.

Four men had been convicted of the 2002 kidnapping and murder of the journalist. However, on April 2 the Sindh High Court heard their appeals against the sentence after 18 years and acquitted Sheikh Adil, Saqib and Nasim. It commuted Sheikh's death sentence to seven years and fined him Rs 2,000,000.

Sheikh has already spent 18 years in prison on death row and his seven-year sentence for kidnapping was counted as time served. Last month, Apex Court rejected the appeal filed by Sindh Government against the verdict of SHC, seeking stay order in Daniel Pearl Case.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020