Daniel Pearl's parents move Pak SC challenging Sindh High Court's decision
May 03, 2020
Islamabad [Pakistan], May 3 : The parents of slain American journalist Daniel Pearl on Saturday filed an appeal to Pakistan's Supreme Court seeking reversal of the Sindh High Court (SCH) verdict that overturned convictions of four men in their son's abduction and murder case.
The deceased journalist's father tweeted details of the petition along with an emotional video message, according to Voice of America.
"We are standing up for justice for not only our son, Daniel Pearl, but for all of our dear friends in Pakistan, so they can know a society free of violence and terror, and raising their children in peace and harmony," Pearl's father, Judea Pearl, was quoted as saying by Voice of America.
Last month, the Sindh government had challenged its provincial high court's order in the Pakistan Supreme Court, wherein British-born al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and three others were acquitted in US journalist Daniel Pearl's kidnapping and murder case.
Back in 2002, the 38-year-old journalist of The Wall Street Journal's South Asia bureau was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan investigating a story of terror groups' links to Al Qaeda.
On April 2 this year, a two-judge Sindh High Court bench overturned the death sentence of British-born 46-year-old al-Qaeda leader Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted in Pearl's murder.
The court also acquitted his three aides who were serving life sentences in the case.
Thereafter, the four acquitted men were re-arrested, only a day after SHC overturned their convictions.
The Pakistan Interior Ministry had said in a statement that the men's release was halted after they were re-arrested through a measure, allowing the government to hold suspects for three months.
The ministry said it "reiterates its commitment to follow the due process under the laws of the country to bring terrorists to the task."
Alice Wells, a senior State Department official had said, "The overturning of the convictions for Daniel Pearl's murder is an affront to victims of terrorism everywhere."
"Those responsible for Daniel's heinous kidnapping and murder must face the full measure of justice," she had added.
