KARACHI- Ahmed Omar Shaikh’s appeal was filed on Friday before Sindh High Court (SHC) assailing the judgment and conviction in Daniel Pearl kidnapping and murder case. Abdul Waheed Kaptar and Syed Mohsin Imam advocates presented the appeal before registrar criminal branch of the SHC. The appellant maintains that he was innocent and falsely implicated in the case.
The petitioner maintains that the trial court (Anti-Terrorism Court for Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas division) misread the evidence produced by the prosecution and also did not consider the documentary and other evidence led by the defence. There were material contradictions in depositions by the star prosecution witnesses. There was no natural witness of alleged abduction and the only alleged eyewitness, a yellow cab driver, was a stock witness of police. The First Information Report (FIR) itself does not even conform to the test of law, maintained the appellant/convict.
The counsel for appellant, impugning the judgment dated July 15, maintained that the judgment was violative of basic provisions of Qanun-e-Shahadat Order 1984 and Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and also against the law laid down by the superior courts. The prosecution has failed to establish the commission of any offence under sections 365-A, 120-A, 307 Pakistan Panel Code (PPC) and section 7 of Anti Terrorist Activities (ATA), hence the conviction and sentence are liable to be set aside being contrary to law and facts, the appellant maintained.
The appellant said that “basic and cardinal principle of law that benefit of any reasonable doubt is to be resolved in favour of the accused persons was blatantly violated in this case and all the benefit of all kind of doubt arising from the record has been extended, not to the accused, but to the prosecution”.
The evidence was provenly planted, fake and false, maintained the appellant while praying to the court to set aside the impugned judgment, conviction and sentence and order release of the accused/appellant/convict Ahmed Omar Shaikh. Abdul Waheed Katpar also filed a miscellaneous application seeking intra-court transfer of case from the ATA bench Hyderabad to ATA bench at Karachi.
Omar Shaikh was sentenced to death by Syed Ashraf Ali Shah, judge ATC Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas division, while three co-accused Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Shaikh Adil were awarded life terms besides a fine of Rs 2 million jointly to be paid to the widow and orphan son of Pearl.
“I hope justice will be done,” Katpar told reporters after filing the appeal. “It is an excellent case for an appeal, and two judges will hear the petition and I am 100 per cent sure that I will be successful.” Omar was initially reluctant to launch an appeal, his Mohsin Imam said. Imam had travelled to the high-security prison in Hyderabad earlier on Friday to obtain Omar’s approval to file appeal.
Omar’s father, Sheikh Ahmed Saeed, who travelled to Hyderabad with Imam but did not meet his son, said he had sent a message to Omar through his lawyer urging him to sign the papers. “And I’m glad he did,” he said, without explaining Omar’s reluctancy. Defence lawyers for all four of those convicted have vowed to take their appeal to the Supreme Court if the SHC does not overturn the judgment. Legal experts say the appeal process could take years.
Source: The News
Date:7/20/2002
