Sindh government will file an application to block the release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the man previously convicted of kidnapping Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl and facilitating his murder.

Sindh government spokesperson Murtaza Wahab told the government will file an application against the Sindh High Court’s order for the release on Monday. “They are not likely to be released today because the court order will reach the prison and legal opinion will be sought on it,” he explained.

The court has ordered the release of Sheikh and struck down any further orders to detain him on Thursday. It was expected that he may be released from the Central Jail, Karachi today (Saturday).

The Sindh High Court issued a short order that the detention orders of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib were null and void while hearing the Daniel Pearl murder case.

The men were detained after they were deemed free to go in April and were being kept at the Karachi Central Jail. However, their lawyers challenged them being further detained on the Sindh government orders. This is what the court struck down as being issued “without lawful authority”.