Pearl death sentence appealed

A Pakistani court today received an appeal against conviction from a Briton sentenced to death for the kidnap and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl - and from prosecutors seeking the death penalty for three other men who received life sentences.

A hearing date has not been set.

Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, originally from Wanstead, east London, was sentenced to death by hanging and the three others received life sentences last month. Seven others are being sought in the case.

The two presiding justices, Roshan Essani and Mujeebullah Siddiqi, admitted the appeals and also approved a defence request to hear the case in Karachi. They did not set a hearing date.

One of Saeed’s lawyers, Mohsin Imam, said he thought the hearing would take place in the next couple of weeks.

Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl disappeared on January 23 in Karachi while researching links between Pakistani extremists and British shoe bomb suspect Richard Reid, arrested in December on a flight from Paris to Miami.

E-mails received by news organisations a few days later included pictures showing Pearl in captivity.

A videotape received by US diplomats in February confirmed Pearl was dead, and a body found in May in a shallow grave in Karachi was later identified as Pearl’s through DNA.

Saeed’s father, Saeed Ahmed Sheikh, said today his son’s conviction, rendered in a court in Hyderabad, 110 miles northeast of Karachi, was unjust and decided "under pressure".

"We have filed an appeal in this court as we believe that justice will be done here," he said.

Saeed’s father also complained that officials were putting restrictions on visits with his son, but said that Saeed remained "in good spirits".