Pakistan’s top court accepts appeal on behalf on Daniel Pearl’s family

ISLAMABAD >> Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday accepted an appeal by the family of slain American journalist Daniel Pearl seeking to keep a British-born Pakistani man on death row over the beheading of the Wall Street Journal reporter.

The court delayed until next week hearing the appeal over the lower- court acquittal of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who had been on death row since his conviction in 2002 over Pearl’s killing.

The Supreme Court ordered Sheikh to remain in custody but Faisal Siddiqi, the lawyer for Pearl’s family, told The Associated Press on Monday the court will decide next week whether Sheikh will remain imprisoned during the course of the appeal, which could be years.

The government has argued against Sheikh’s release, despite his acquittal in April, saying it would endanger the public. But the Supreme Court will rule on that next week, Siddiqi said. He said Pakistan’s top court expressed concern about keeping Sheikh locked up even though he stands acquitted.

Sheikh had been convicted of helping lure Pearl to a meeting in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi in which he was kidnapped. Pearl had been investigating the link between Pakistani militants and Richard C. Reid, dubbed the “Shoe Bomber” after trying to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoes.

The lower court’s April ruling acquitted Sheikh and three other accomplices, who had been sentenced to life in jail for their role in the plot. The lower court found Sheikh guilty on a single lesser charge of abduction, which he is also appealing.

The acquittal stunned the U.S. government, Pearl’s family and journalism advocacy groups.