Pak SC orders launch of Omar Sheikh, India says travesty of justice

Hours after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the discharge of British-born terrorist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who’s convicted of abducting and murdering US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002, India on Thursday described the ruling as a “travesty of justice” and mentioned the case really demonstrated Pakistan’s intent on taking motion on terror.
Sheikh is among the many three terrorists India freed in 1999 in change for the hostages of the hijacked IC-814.
When requested on the weekly briefing, Ministry of External Affairs’ official spokesperson Anurag Srivastava mentioned, “I had mentioned earlier about the very low conviction rate in Pakistan when it comes to sentencing of terror accused… This case truly demonstrates Pakistan’s intent on taking action on terror front. It is a travesty of justice not to find Omar Saeed guilty of any charges in this heinous act of terror.”
The MEA spokesperson additionally underlined New Delhi’s expectation from Islamabad on terrorism. “Our position on Pakistan taking sustained, verifiable, credible and irreversible action against terrorism and terrorist funding emanating from all territory under its control remain unchanged,” he mentioned.
On Thursday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court dismissed all prices towards Sheikh who has already spent 18 months in jail in Pakistan for the crime.
Last month, the Sindh High Court in its order mentioned that Sheikh and his three aides – Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adil – who had been convicted and sentenced within the case, shouldn’t be saved beneath “any sort of detention” and declared all notifications of the Sindh authorities associated to their detention “null and void”. It additionally described the 4 males’s detention as “illegal”.
On Thursday, the judges ordered that Sheikh be launched instantly if he isn’t needed in every other case. Faiz Shah, the federal government’s lawyer, advised native media that he was disillusioned about Thursday’s final result and that the authorities would problem the decision.
Daniel Pearl, 38, was an American journalist who labored because the South Asia bureau chief of The Wall Street Journal. He was kidnapped in Pakistan’s Karachi in January 2002 whereas engaged on a narrative about Pakistani terror teams linked to Al Qaeda.
Pearl was later beheaded and a few month later, a graphic video of his decapitation was despatched to Karachi’s US consulate.
Following international outcry and stress from the US, Pakistan’s then president Pervez Musharraf had Omar Sheikh and the three different militants arrested the identical yr, after which they had been convicted of abducting and murdering Pearl. Sheikh has remained on loss of life row since this conviction.
(With PTI inputs from Islamabad)