SC again hears Daniel Pearl murder case today

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) was told on Wednesday that there was no evidence submitted by the prosecution that shows any link of the accused persons in the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

While, counsel for parents of Daniel Pearl, filed an application comprises of some news clippings that allegedly link Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the mains accused in the case, to militants groups. The counsel also submitted a letter, allegedly written by Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh from jail to Sindh High Court to decide his case at the earliest.

The court sought reply from counsel for Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh on Daniel Pearl counsel statement and adjourned hearing till today (Thursday)

A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Mushir Alam and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Yahya Afridi, heard the criminal petition, filed by the government of Sindh as well as parents of Daniel Pearl for leave to appeal under Article 185(3) of the Constitution against the impugned judgment passed by Sindh High Court on April 2.

Mahmood A sheikh, counsel for British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main accused in Daniel Pearl murder case while continuing his argument, submitted that neither prosecution had submitted any evidence that shows murder of Daniel Pearl nor any link of the accused with the murder. The learned counsel contended that a video cassette, which was submitted to show that Daniel Pearl had been beheaded with a churri (Knife) neither the churri had been recovered nor the video.

Mahmood A Sheikh submitted that the wife of Daniel Pearl, after sending her complaint for registration of an FIR and delivering the copies of the alleged emails, refused to meet any of the investigation officer. “The prosecution cited her as a witness because it was she who could have proved the receipt of the ransom email”, the counsel submitted, adding that first she said she could not come because she was pregnant.

The learned counsel submitted that the court gave her the permissions to record a statement through a commission, appointed by the court, adding that the spouse of Daniel Pearl said that she could do that in London. “A commission was appointed in London to record her statement in London but she even refused to appear before the commission in London”, Mahmood A Sheikh submitted, adding that the prosecution than dropped her as a witness”, the counsel submitted

“Your stance is that wife of Daniel Pearl was a strong witness but she did not cooperate in the instant case", Yahya Afridi asked the counsel.

Mahmood A Sheikh replied that the spouse neither recorded her statement with the Investigation Officer (IO) nor appeared before the court. He contended that they had submitted to the court that under the law if the witness, who had produced the documents and who was cited as a witness and shown all possible accommodation and if she still doesn’t appear as a witness than the only conclusion drawn is that she was not willing to support the prosecution’s case.

Mahmood A Sheikh submitted that there was a delay of 12 days in filing the FIR, adding that the incident took place according to them on 23rd January, 2002 but despite receiving the alleged email for ransom and the threat of killing him on the 30th of January 2002, no FIR was registered immediately after. The counsel contended that in the FIR, which was recorded after deliberation of 12 days, it is now being contended on 23rd of January 2002 that Daniel Pearl was taken in a Toyota Corral car by someone who was later identified as Omar Ahmed Sheikh.

“It was not said in the complaint and recorded in the FIR and the prosecution did not know where Daniel Peal went that evening and they just fabricated this story and inserted it later.

The learned counsel cited various cases which shows that delay in lodging the FIR is fatal and the case is get killed only on that basis and addition of stories which do not form part of the FIR makes the case suspicious and unreliable.

Earlier, Faisal Siddiqui, counsel for parents of Daniel Pearl, filed a Civil Miscellaneous Application (CMA) comprises of some news clippings that allegedly link Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the mains accused in the case, to militants groups. The counsel also submitted a letter, allegedly written by Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh from jail to Sindh High Court to decide his case at the earliest. He had written in the letter that the real culprit in the abduction and killing of Daniel Pearl is Ata ur Rehman alias Naeem Bukhari.

The court directed Mahmood A Sheikh, counsel for Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, to submit his reply in this regard. The court also directed Prosecutor General Sindh to facilitate meeting of the main accused Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh with his counsel at the earliest.

Meanwhile, the court adjourned the hearing until today (Thursday).

On April 2, a two-member bench of the high court, headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, had overturned the death sentence for British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted 18 years ago by an anti-terrorism court in the kidnapping and beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

The accused had filed an appeal in the high court against their conviction by the trial after finding them guilty of abducting and killing Pearl.

The court had also overturned the convictions of three other men Fahad Nassem, Syed Salman Saqib and Sheikh Muhammad Adil in the case. The court had held that three of the four accused ‘not guilty’ while the prime accused Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh’s death sentence has been overturned into a seven year jail sentencing.