New Delhi: India on Thursday sharply reacted to Pakistan Supreme Court acquitting Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main accused in the killing of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002, calling it “travesty of justice”. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Anurag Srivastava highlighted the “very low conviction rate in Pakistan” when it comes to sentencing of terror accused.
He said, “This case truly demonstrates Pakistan’s intent on taking action on the terror front. It is a travesty of justice not to find Omar Saeed guilty of any charges in this heinous act of terror.”
Saeed was acquitted by Sindh High Court, but the case was put on appeal, which was dismissed by Pakistani Supreme Court. Two out of the three judges on the bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam ruled in favour of upholding the Sindh High Court verdict.
India while reacting to the development called for Islamabad to take “sustained, verifiable, credible and irreversible action” against terrorism and terrorist funding “emanating from all territory under its control remain unchanged”.
Sheikh was one of the terrorists released when in the infamous Indian airlines plane IC 814 hijacking case of 1999. A Pakistani British national, he was in the 1990s arrested by India for kidnapping western tourists.
The mother and father of Daniel Pearl, Ruth and Judea Pearl also strongly reacted to the development, saying the “release of these killers puts in danger journalists everywhere and the people of Pakistan”, urging US government to take all “necessary actions under the law to correct this injustice”.
Incidentally, after the 26/11 terror attacks, Omar Sheikh pretended to be the then Indian foreign minister late Pranab Mukherjee and made a hoax called to then Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari leading to the country being put on high alert. He did so while being in jail, using UK sims.
