Supreme Court blocks Daniel Pearl’s murder suspect’s release

The Pakistan Daily February 1, 2021

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Pakistan’s top court has extended the detention of Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main suspect in the Daniel Pearl murder case.

Just In: Supreme Court HALTS the release of Omar Sheikh and others in the #DanielPearl murder case for 24hours. #Pakistan
— Anas Mallick (@AnasMallick) February 1, 2021

The one-day extension was granted after a request from the Sindh government to review releasing the suspected terrorist..

Earlier, the Sindh government had filed a review petition in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of Sheikh.

The previous Supreme Court order to release Sheikh, who is convicted of being the mastermind behind the savage murder of Wall Street Journal Bureau Chief Daniel Pearl, sparked global outrage.

The United States called it “an affront to terrorism victims everywhere” and demanded the Pakistani government “review its legal options.”

#OTD in 2002, DANIEL PEARL was beheaded by terrorists in Pakistan.

He was 38, married, a Dad. He worked for @WSJ.

In the last video before he was killed, he said: “My father's Jewish, my mother's Jewish, I'm Jewish.”

Enduring solidarity w/ his family.

Enduring grief & fury. pic.twitter.com/pv8Za1ZBuW
— David Harris (@DavidHarrisAJC) February 1, 2021

The review petition was filed by prosecutor-general Sindh, who also requested an early hearing of the matter.

A three-member bench of the SC, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the Sindh government’s review petition.

Sheikh’s lawyer said. “The wrong man was caught under American pressure. Sheikh passed a law degree from the UK. If he hadn’t been in jail, he would have been a better lawyer than me,” Sheikh’s lawyer argued.

Justice Sajjad Ali Shah asked: “Tell us, when did the detention order of Omar Sheikh end?”

To this, the lawyer responded that Sheikh’s detention order expired on December 1, 2020.

The hearing has been adjourned till tomorrow.