Court, witnesses received threats in Pearl case, SC told

The Supreme Court was informed on Tuesday that the witnesses and court that heard US journalist Daniel Pearl murder case had received threats due to which the case was shifted from Karachi to Hyderabad, nearly three weeks after the Sindh High Court ordered the release of the four convicted men.

On April 2, 2020, the SHC had acquitted the accused, but the Sindh government had placed them under detention.

The apex court’s three-member bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Yahya Afridi, heard the appeals filed by the Sindh government and Pearl's parents, challenging the acquittal of the main suspect, Omar Saeed Sheikh and three others, in the case by the SHC.

The petitioners challenged the SHC’s April 2 verdict that overturned the sentences of the four men in the case.

During the course of proceedings, Faisal Siddiqui, counsel for Daniel Pearl's parents apprised the bench of the threats.

He said that terrorism cases were registered against the accused on confessional statements, adding that the court had to strike a balance between the basic rights of the accused and the plaintiff.

In his arguments, the lawyer for the accused, Mahmood Shaikh, questioned the status of the American journalist and termed the whole case “a result of lies and pressure”. He said that nothing could be said who Daniel Pearl was. He also pointed out that the US sent FBI agents for Pearl, adding that no country sends its investigators for ordinary citizens.

Shaikh told the court that the counsel for Pearl's heirs had described prosecution’s case as weak. He pointed to the conflicting statement made by prosecution witnesses during the investigation and in the court. “Evidence was fabricated because Daniel Pearl was a US citizen,” he apprised the court.

Shaikh further argued that the court was informed that the conspiracy to murder Pearl was hatched in a hotel in Rawalpindi but according to the its receptionist, he did not know the accused Omar Ahmed Sheikh. He said that confessions were extracted from the accused through torture, while no evidence was presented of any meeting among the accused.

Further hearing of the case will be held on Wednesday (today).