ISLAMABAD: The government, through the prosecutor general of Pakistan’s Sindh province, has petitioned the Supreme Court to review its decision to free Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, the British-born Pakistani convicted for the 2002 kidnapping and beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl, Pakistan’s Geo News reported
On Thursday, all four men originally arrested and charged with Pearl’s abduction and murder were ordered free by the Pakistani Supreme Court. The court also dismissed separate appeals against Sheikh’s acquittal filed by Pearl’s family and the provincial government of Pakistan’s Sindh province.
“Being aggrieved of and dissatisfied with the judgment of the Full Bench of his honorable court … this petitioner files the Instant Criminal Review Petition for Leave to Appeal on questions of law, facts and grounds,” the petition, from the state through the Sindh prosecutor general, said, published by Geo News.
Sheikh was sentenced to death and three other suspects to life in prison in 2002 for their roles in the plot to kill Pearl. Last April, however, a lower court acquitted them in a shocking turn in the 18-year-old case.
The acquittal was appealed separately in the Supreme Court by Pearl’s family and the Sindh government. Both appeals were rejected on Thursday by a three-judge bench, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, that also ordered Sheikh be released.
He is currently still detained and it was not immediately clear when he would be released.
Government appeals acquittal of men convicted in Daniel Pearl murder - Pakistani media
https://arab.news/pp5er
Government appeals acquittal of men convicted in Daniel Pearl murder - Pakistani media
- Government, through prosecutor general of Sindh province, has petitioned the Supreme Court to review its decision to free ‘mastermind’ Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh
- On Thursday, all four men originally arrested and charged with Pearl’s abduction and murder were ordered free by the top court
Sindh assembly passes resolution rejecting move to separate Karachi
- Chief Minister Shah cites constitutional safeguards against altering provincial boundaries
- Calls to separate Karachi intensified amid governance concerns after a mall fire last month
ISLAMABAD: The provincial assembly of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Saturday passed a resolution rejecting any move to separate Karachi, declaring its territorial integrity “non-negotiable” amid political calls to carve the city out as a separate administrative unit.
The resolution comes after fresh demands by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and other voices to grant Karachi provincial or federal status following governance challenges highlighted by the deadly Gul Plaza fire earlier this year that killed 80 people.
Karachi, Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated city, is the country’s main commercial hub and contributes a significant share to the national economy.
Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah tabled the resolution in the assembly, condemning what he described as “divisive statements” about breaking up Sindh or detaching Karachi.
“The province that played a foundational role in the creation of Pakistan cannot allow the fragmentation of its own historic homeland,” Shah told lawmakers, adding that any attempt to divide Sindh or separate Karachi was contrary to the constitution and democratic norms.
Citing Article 239 of Pakistan’s 1973 Constitution, which requires the consent of not less than two-thirds of a provincial assembly to alter provincial boundaries, Shah said any such move could not proceed without the assembly’s approval.
“If any such move is attempted, it is this Assembly — by a two-thirds majority — that will decide,” he said.
The resolution reaffirmed that Karachi would “forever remain” an integral part of Sindh and directed the provincial government to forward the motion to the president, prime minister and parliamentary leadership for record.
Shah said the resolution was not aimed at anyone but referred to the shifting stance of MQM in the debate while warning that opposing the resolution would amount to supporting the division of Sindh.
The party has been a major political force in Karachi with a significant vote bank in the city and has frequently criticized Shah’s provincial administration over its governance of Pakistan’s largest metropolis.
Taha Ahmed Khan, a senior MQM leader, acknowledged that his party had “presented its demand openly on television channels with clear and logical arguments” to separate Karachi from Sindh.
“It is a purely constitutional debate,” he told Arab News by phone. “We are aware that the Pakistan Peoples Party, which rules the province, holds a two-thirds majority and that a new province cannot be created at this stage. But that does not mean new provinces can never be formed.”
Calls to alter Karachi’s status have periodically surfaced amid longstanding complaints over governance, infrastructure and administrative control in the megacity, though no formal proposal to redraw provincial boundaries has been introduced at the federal level.
