Pearl’s parents term SC judgment ‘a travesty of justice’

Say entire family in shock; call on US govt to “take all necessary actions under the law to correct this injustice”

The parents of slain journalist Daniel Pearl said on Thursday that the family was "in complete shock by the majority decision of the Supreme Court (SC) of Pakistan to acquit and release Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and the other accused persons who kidnapped and killed Daniel Pearl".

In a statement issued following the announcement of the apex court's decision, the journalist's parents - Judea and Ruth Pearl - maintained that, “Today's decision is a complete travesty of justice and the release of these killers puts in danger journalists everywhere and the people of Pakistan.”

The deceased journalist's parents further urged the US government to "take all necessary actions under the law to correct this injustice.”

The Pearl family also hoped Pakistani authorities would take necessary steps to "rectify this travesty of justice.”

“No amount of injustice will defeat our resolve to fight for justice for Daniel Pearl,” they maintained.

Earlier in the day, SC rejected the Sindh government's appeal against the Sindh High Court's (SHC) decision to acquit/release the accused involved in American journalist Daniel Pearl's murder case.

Also read: Pearl case does not fall in terrorism category, SC told

A three-judge bench of the apex court led by Justice Mushir Alam announced the short order.

“The court has come out to say that there is no offence that he has committed in this case,” Mahmood Sheikh, counsel who represented Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, told the AFP.

An SHC division bench on April 2, 2020, had commuted the death sentence of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to seven years and acquitted three others who were serving life terms.

The PPP-led provincial government had swiftly challenged the April 2 order in the Supreme Court. The Sindh government had also immediately detained the four men under Section 3 (1) of West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) Ordinance, 1960.

The same SHC division bench, however, annulled the detention order on December 24 and ordered the Sindh government to immediately release the four men. This order elicited immediate response from the US who, on December 25, expressed its “deep concerns” over the SHC order.

Pearl’s murder

Daniel Pearl, 38, was the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal when he was abducted in Karachi in January 2002. Pearl’s wife Marianne Pearl, a US national who was living in Karachi, wrote a letter to the Artillery Maidan police on February 2, 2002, stating that her husband disappeared on January 23, 2002.

Later, a graphic video showing Pearl’s decapitation was delivered to the US consulate in Karachi nearly a month after he was kidnapped. After this, a case was filed against the suspects and 23 witnesses were produced in the case by the prosecution. Sheikh was arrested in February 2002.