Daniel Pearl murder case: Pakistan SC allows main accused Sheikh to move to Lahore jail

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday allowed government authorities to move Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main accused in the case of beheading American scribe Daniel Pearl in 2002, to the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore.

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday allowed government authorities to move Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main accused in the case of beheading American scribe Daniel Pearl in 2002, to the Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore. A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, heard the matter pertaining to the release of accused persons in the Daniel Pearl murder case, reported The News International.

Chaudhry Faisal Hussain, Additional Advocate General Punjab, informed the court that the main accused Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh had moved an application praying for shifting him to Punjab as his family was living there. Justice Umer Ata Bandial asked the law officer that the government of Punjab in compliance of court's order should ensure all best facilities to the accused persons.

He also said that the court was not satisfied with the continued detention of the Sheikh and other accused despite their acquittal in the murder case, reported The News International. In 2002, Pearl, the 38-year-old journalist of The Wall Street Journal's South Asia bureau, was abducted and beheaded while he was in Pakistan to investigate a story of terror groups' links to Al-Qaeda.

Sheikh was arrested in 2002 but was acquitted by the Pakistan Supreme Court earlier this year, sparking worldwide rage and condemnation. Meanwhile, the law officer told Justice Sajjad Ali Shah that Sheikh will be shifted within a week, the Pakistani daily reported.

Last month, the court had ordered the shifting of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to a government rest house providing facilities for a normal life but without access to the outside world through telephone, internet, etc. The provincial government should provide the immediate family of the detenue reasonable transportation and accommodation in Karachi", the court order had further directed.

The United States had expressed deep concerns over the release of multiple terrorists responsible for the murder of Pearl. Earlier this year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had earlier talked with Pakistani counterpart Shah Mahmood Qureshi and had discussed ways to ensure accountability for convicted terrorist Sheikh regarding Pearl's murder case. (ANI)

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