Pak SC to take up plea for Daniel Pearl case's urgent hearing

Islamabad, June 29 (IANS) The Pakistan Supreme Court will on Monday take up the Sindh government's request for an urgent hearing of its appeal against overturning the conviction of the main accused in the murder case of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

The apex court at the last hearing on June 1 had asked the provincial government to furnish complete record comprising all evidence along with its appeal challenging the decision of the Sindh High Court (SHC) in the case, reports Dawn news.

Besides the Sindh government, the parents of the slain journalist, Ruth Pearl and Judea Pearl, had also moved appeals through senior counsel Faisal Siddiqui.

A three-judge bench will consider the provincial government's application in which it had requested the Supreme Court to consider hearing the challenge to the April 2 decision.

The Sindh government in its appeal urged the apex court to set aside the SHC order that modified the sentence of Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh, the main accused, to seven years rigorous imprisonment with a fine of 2 million PKR.

The government expressed the apprehension that Sheikh could abscond along with co-accused after the SHC modified his sentence and acquitted three co-conspirators namely Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib, who were earlier sentenced to life imprisonment by an Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Karachi, said the Dawn news reported.

Pearl, 38, was doing research on religious extremism in Karachi when he was abducted in January 2002.

A graphic video showing his decapitation was delivered to the US consulate a month later.

Subsequently, Sheikh was arrested in 2002 and sentenced to death by the trial court.