Pakistan’s Supreme Court (SC) on Monday extended the interim detention order of the accused involved in the murder case of American Journalist Daniel Pearl by one day, reported The Express Tribune.
The three-judge bench of SC led by Justice Umar Ata Bandial heard the government’s petition wherein a notice to the attorney general of Pakistan was also issued and records of the case were sought from the Sindh High Court (SHC).
On January 28, the 3-member bench had acquitted all the accused involved in the murder case of the American journalist, ordering the release of the four men languishing in jails for the past 18 years.
During today’s hearing, the Attorney-General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan prayed upon the apex court that the SHC ordered the release of the accused without hearing pleas from the federal government which was necessary in such cases, reported The Express Tribune.
“The federal government has not been made a party in the Sindh High Court,” the AGP further prayed.
The AGP requested to suspend SHC’s decision to release the accused so that he could argue the case in detail. The SC rejected the request.
“Let’s hear the government’s position till tomorrow,” the SC said. “The government should tell the court how a citizen can be detained.”
On Friday US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and discussed ways to ensure accountability for convicted terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh in the American journalist Daniel Pearl’s murder case.
During the phone call, Blinken reinforced US concern about the Pakistani Supreme Court ruling and the potential release of these prisoners.
Earlier, the Sindh government and Daniel Pearl’s parents had moved the SC against the Sindh High Court (SHC) on April 2, 2020 order to release the four men accused of abducting and killing the Wall Street Journal’s former South Asia bureau chief in 2002, reported The Express Tribune.
