Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday said that Sindh home department took the decision to place all those accused in US journalist Daniel Pearl’s abduction and murder case in custody for a period of 90 days under the Public Safety Act.
In a press statement released to media, the foreign minister said the provincial home department has decided to file an appeal in the Supreme Court against a decision of the Sindh High Court which overturned the decision of the trial court and commuted death sentence of the prime accused while setting free the other three men. He observed that the appellate forum is available in the case and the apex court will further adjudicate upon the appeal.
About US concerns over the decision of the case, Qureshi said their expressions are natural as Daniel had been a prominent journalist who was kidnapped and later murdered. Due to that sorry episode, Pakistan had to face criticism at the international level.
The minister said Pakistan has offered huge sacrifices in the war against terror and the whole nation fought a long war with unity. In Pearl’s case, accused were arrested, tried and convicted while the main accused Shaikh Omar was awarded death penalty by the trial court, he said. The convicts later moved the Sindh High Court, which accepted their appeals and set aside an earlier verdict of the Anti-Terrorism Court, Hyderabad.
