Daniel Pearl Murder
Daniel Pearl case: Prosecution failed to prove guilt of main accused Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, says Pakistan SC
Islamabad: The Pakistan Supreme Court on Friday revealed the detailed verdict in the Jan 28 decision to release Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was arrested on charges of kidnapping and killing American journalist Daniel Pearl, where it was said that all charges against him could not be proven by the prosecution.
The provincial government had approached the top court after the Sindh High Court had overturned Sheikh's conviction, reports Geo News.
A three-member SC bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam, including Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Sardar Tariq Masood, released the detailed verdict today, given with a 2-1 majority, the Pakistani news channel reported.
The court, in its ruling, said the prosecution had presented a policeman as a taxi driver, and turned him into a state witness.
The verdict said the false witness was not shown Pearl's photo for identification, reports Geo News.
Furthermore, the top court ruled that the accused cannot be identified in the murder video and the original video was deliberately hidden from the police, the news channel reported.
Sheikh was the main suspect in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
Sheikh has served 18 years in jail and a life sentence is usually a maximum of 14 years.
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