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29-01-2021
By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies
KARACHI/ ISLAMABAD/ WASHINGTON: The administration of President Joe Biden Thursday was “outraged” over the acquittal of prime accused in Danel Pearl murder by the Supreme of Pakistan.
The White House is “outraged by the Pakistani Supreme Court’s decision,” chief spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters, calling the ruling “an affront to terrorism victims everywhere” and demanded the Pakistani government “review its legal options.”
The authorities in Pakistan have already announced that they will file the review petition in the apex court against the verdict.
The White House statement came after Supreme Court upheld the acquittal of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who had been convicted of masterminding the brutal murder of Pearl, the South Asia bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, by religious extremists in 2002.
Pearl’s killing which was filmed caused international shock and outrage.
“The court has come out to say that there is no offense that he (Sheikh) has committed in this case,” Mahmood Sheikh, who represented the accused, told media.
A court order said that Sheikh along with three accomplices connected to the case should “be released forthwith,” though it was not clear when that would happen.
Pearl was researching a story about militants when he was abducted in Karachi in January 2002.
Nearly a month later, after a string of ransom demands, a graphic video showing his decapitation was given to officials.
Sheikh, a British-born extremist who once studied at the London School of Economics and had been involved in previous kidnappings of foreigners, was arrested days after Pearl’s abduction.
He was later sentenced to death by hanging after telling a Karachi court that Pearl had already been killed days before the gruesome video of the journalist’s beheading had been released.
Pearl’s family on Thursday called the decision to free him “a travesty of justice” and pleaded for US intervention in the case.
“The release of these killers puts in danger journalists everywhere and the people of Pakistan. We urge the US government to take all necessary actions under the law to correct this injustice,” the family said in a statement.
Review petition
Meanwhile, the Sindh government has announced that it will file a review petition against the Supreme Court’s decision.
The provincial government had approached the top court against an order of the Sindh High Court (SHC) overturning the conviction of Sheikh in the 2002 incident that occurred in Karachi.
A three-member bench of the SC headed by Justice Mushir Alam announced the verdict with a 2-1 majority.
In a statement following the verdict, Sindh information minister Nasir 
Hussain Shah said that the provincial government “has decided to go for a review on the orders of the Supreme Court”.
“Omar Sheikh has admitted his involvement in the Daniel Pearl murder case,” he added.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Attorney-General for Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan said that the federal government is in contact with the Sindh government over the matter.
He acknowledged that a review petition will be filed, asking the Supreme Court to rescind the release orders of Sheikh and his associates.
“The federal government will provide maximum legal assistance to Sind government in the matter,” the spokesperson added.
It is not clear how long it will take for the petition to be filed.
US ready to prosecute
In a separate statement, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US is prepared to prosecute in the United States the man acquitted by top court of the murder of American journalist.
The provincial government in Pakistan’s Sindh has petitioned the Supreme Court to review its decision to free two men convicted of kidnapping and beheading US journalist Daniel Pearl.
The move on Friday came a day after the court acquitted British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Faisal Siddiqi, who were convicted for the Wall Street 
Journal reporter’s murder in 2002.
The decision outraged the United States and extended a legal tug of war between the Sindh government which kept the group behind bars using emergency powers and the courts.
Fiaz Shah, prosecutor general for Sindh government, told media it has lodged a review of the verdict at the Supreme Court in the capital, Islamabad.
“The petition was filed to seek a review and request the court to recall the order of acquittal,” Shah said.
