Daniel Pearl case: SC orders release of main accused Omar Sheikh

ISLAMABAD (92 News) - The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected appeals filed by the Sindh government and ordered the release of the main accused in the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Sindh government had approached the apex court against an order of the SHC overturning the conviction of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh in the 2002 murder of the American journalist in Karachi.

A three-member bench of the SC headed by Justice Mushir Alam announced the verdict with a 2-1 majority. “The court has come out to say that there is no offence that he has committed in this case,” Mahmood Sheikh, who represented Sheikh, told AFP.

In April 2020, the SHC had overturned the death sentence of Omer Sheikh and sentenced him to seven years in prison and acquitted three others accused — Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib — who were earlier sentenced to life imprisonment by an anti-terrorism court (ATC).