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ISLAMABAD (AP) – The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Thursday ordered the release of a Pakistani-British convicted and acquitted for the beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.
The court also dismissed the appeal from the acquittal of Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh filed by Pearl’s family and the Pakistani government.
A minister in Sindh province, where Sheikh is being held, said the government had exhausted all options to keep him locked up – an indication Sheikh could be free within days. “The Supreme Court is the court of last resort,” Murtaza Wahab, Sindh’s law minister, told The Associated Press.
“The Pearl family are completely shocked by the majority decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to acquit and release Ahmed Omer Sheikh and the other defendants who kidnapped and killed Daniel Pearl,” the Pearl family said in a statement released by their lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi.
The brutality of Pearl’s murder shocked many in 2002, years before the Islamic State group began posting videos of their militants beheading journalists. An autopsy report recounted the gruesome details of the Wall Street Journal reporter murder and dismemberment.
Sheikh was found guilty of helping lure Pearl to a meeting in the port city of Karachi, southern Pakistan, during which he was kidnapped. Pearl had investigated the link between Pakistani activists and Richard C. Reid, nicknamed the “shoe bomber” after his attempt to blow up a Paris-Miami flight with explosives hidden in his shoes.
Pearl’s body was discovered in a shallow grave shortly after a video of his beheading was delivered to the US consulate in Karachi.
The Pentagon released a transcript in 2007 in which Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, said he killed Pearl.
“I beheaded with my blessed right hand the head of American Jew Daniel Pearl,” Mohammed said according to the transcript. Mohammad first revealed his role while being held by the CIA and subjected to waterboarding, sleep deprivation and other forms of torture. He is still being held at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay and has never been charged with the journalist’s death.
Sheikh had long denied any involvement in Pearl’s death, but the Supreme Court heard on Wednesday that he admitted to writing a letter in 2019 admitting a minor role. – raising hope for some that he could stay behind bars.
Sheikh has been in the death row since his conviction – even after his subsequent acquittal – and is currently being held in a Karachi prison. A three-judge Supreme Court ruled 2-1 to uphold Sheikh’s acquittal and ordered him to be released, according to the Pearl family’s attorney.
A lawyer for Sheikh said the court also ordered the release of three other Pakistanis who had been sentenced to life in prison for their participation in the kidnapping and death of Pearl. The three – Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib – all played lesser roles, such as providing a laptop or Internet access to send photos of Pearl with a gun to his head, with demands that all prisoners in the US Guantanamo Bay prison the prison be released. Yet in the initial trial, all four were charged with the same crimes.
“These people shouldn’t have been in jail even for a day,” said Mehmood A. Sheikh, who is unrelated to his client.
He warned the Sindh provincial government against delaying their release, as he has done in the past with his client, even after being slapped with a contempt charge.
“I hope the government of Sindh will not mock the justice system by continuing … not to release them for no good reason,” he said.
Washington had previously said it would seek Sheikh’s extradition to the United States for trial, if the acquittal is confirmed. It is not clear whether Pakistan would support her extradition or even for what reasons she might go ahead.
The case appears to test the ability of the new Biden administration to deal with Pakistan, seen as a key ally in bringing peace to neighboring Afghanistan.
The Pearl family urged the US and Pakistani governments to take action to “correct this injustice.”
“Today’s decision is a complete travesty of justice and the release of these assassins endangers journalists around the world and the Pakistani people,” the family statement read.
Later Thursday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the United States was “outraged by the Pakistani Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the acquittal of those responsible” for Pearl’s murder and pointed out the administration’s commitment to seek justice for Pearl’s family.
“This decision to exonerate and release Sheikh and the other suspects is an affront to victims of terrorism everywhere, including Pakistan,” she said, calling on the “Pakistani government to quickly review its legal options, especially by allowing the United States to prosecute Sheikh for the brutal murder of an American citizen and journalist. “
Siddiqi, the Pearl family’s attorney, said the only legal avenue currently available was to seek a review of the court’s decision to uphold Sheikh’s acquittal. However, he said the review would be carried out by the same court that made the decision. “In practical terms,” that means the case is closed in Pakistan, he said.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard Sheikh admit a minor role in Pearl’s kidnapping – a dramatic turn of events after denying any involvement for 18 years. Siddiqi, the attorney for the Pearl family, had hoped this would advance his case. Yet Siddiqi previously said winning was an uphill battle..
Sheikh and the three other men whose release was ordered Thursday were all acquitted in April by the Sindh High Court on the grounds that the initial prosecution evidence was insufficient. On appealing this acquittal, Siddiqi attempted to convince the Supreme Court of Sheikh’s guilt on at least one of the three charges he faced, in particular the kidnapping charge, which also carries the penalty. death in Pakistan.
The court is expected to release a detailed explanation of Thursday’s ruling in the coming days.
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Associated Press editor Adil Jawad in Karachi, Pakistan, and Ben Fox, Eric Tucker and Ken Guggenheim in Washington contributed to this report.
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