Government appeals acquittal of men convicted in Daniel Pearl murder - Pakistani media

ISLAMABAD: The government, through the prosecutor general of Pakistan’s Sindh province, has petitioned the Supreme Court to review its decision to free Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, the British-born Pakistani convicted for the 2002 kidnapping and beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl, Pakistan’s Geo News reported
On Thursday, all four men originally arrested and charged with Pearl’s abduction and murder were ordered free by the Pakistani Supreme Court. The court also dismissed separate appeals against Sheikh’s acquittal filed by Pearl’s family and the provincial government of Pakistan’s Sindh province.
“Being aggrieved of and dissatisfied with the judgment of the Full Bench of his honorable court … this petitioner files the Instant Criminal Review Petition for Leave to Appeal on questions of law, facts and grounds,” the petition, from the state through the Sindh prosecutor general, said, published by Geo News.
Sheikh was sentenced to death and three other suspects to life in prison in 2002 for their roles in the plot to kill Pearl. Last April, however, a lower court acquitted them in a shocking turn in the 18-year-old case.
The acquittal was appealed separately in the Supreme Court by Pearl’s family and the Sindh government. Both appeals were rejected on Thursday by a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, that also ordered Sheikh be released.
He is currently still detained and it was not immediately clear when he would be released.

Government appeals acquittal of men convicted in Daniel Pearl murder - Pakistani media