Pakistan Releases Man Convicted Of US journalist Daniel Pearl murder

Pakistan‘s Supreme Court has acquitted Ahmed Omar Sheikh convicted of US Journalist Daniel Pearl. A panel of three judges of Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the release of the 47-year-old British-Pakistani. Ahmed. He was the main suspect in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter. Sheikh has been on death row since his conviction in Pearl’s death.

A three-judge bench headed by Justice Mushir Alam dismissed an appeal of Sheikh’s acquittal by Pearl’s family. The beach also directed authorities to release him.

“By a majority of two to one, they have acquitted all the accused persons and ordered their release,” provincial attorney general, Salman Talibuddin, told Reuters news agency in a text message on Thursday.

“Today’s decision is a complete travesty of justice and the release of these killers puts in danger journalists everywhere and the people of Pakistan,” the Pearl family said in a statement released by their lawyer.

Pearl, 38, was South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal. He was abducted in Karachi in January 2002 while researching links between militants in Pakistan and Richard C Reid, known as “shoe bomber”. Pearl was later killed by his captors in Karachi. Sheikh, a British citizen of Pakistani-origin, was arrested in India in 1994. He was imprisoned in connection with the kidnapping of three British and one American tourist. But following a hijacking of Indian Airline flight by Pakistan terrorists from Kathmandu to Kandahar in December 1999. He was released with Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) founder Masood Azhar and terrorist Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar in exchange for passengers of Indian Airlines flight IC-814.

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