STAFF REPORTER
KARACHI Sindh High Court on Thursday overturned the murder conviction of Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh, the man found guilty of the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Instead, the court found Sheikh guilty of the lesser charge of kidnapping and sentenced him to seven years in prison. One of his lawyers, Khwaja Naveed claimed he could go free unless the government chooses to challenge the court decision. Saeed has already spent 18 years in prison on death row. The seven-year sentence was expected to be counted as time served, said Naveed. The Sindh High Court also acquitted three others accused in the case: Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil, and Salman Saqib, who were earlier sentenced to life in prison. A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Mohammad Karim Khan Agha, announced the verdict on the appeals filed by the convicts 18 years ago after hearing arguments and examining the record and proceedings of the case. The SHC further dismissed an appeal of the state seeking enhancement of life term of three co-accused.
