ISLAMABAD (AP) – The Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of a Pakistani man who was convicted and later acquitted after the horrific beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.
The court also dismissed an appeal against the acquittal of Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh by Pearl’s family and the Pakistani government.
Sheikh has been on death row since his conviction for Pearl’s death in 2002. His lawyer said Sheikh “should not have spent a day in prison”.
Lawyer Mehmood A. Sheikh, no relation, said the court had also ordered the release of three other Pakistanis who had been sentenced to life in prison for their part in Pearl’s kidnapping and death.
“Today’s decision is a complete jest of justice and the release of these killers endangers journalists everywhere and the people of Pakistan,” the Pearl family said in a statement by their lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi.
The three-judge Supreme Court ruled 2 to 1 in favor of Sheikh’s acquittal and ordered his release, Siddiqi said.
Washington previously said it would demand that Sheikh be extradited to the United States for trial. There was no immediate response from the US Embassy to the injunction to accept the appeal.
“We urge the US government to take all necessary steps under the law to rectify this injustice. We also hope that the Pakistani authorities will take all necessary steps to rectify this travesty of justice, ”said the Pearl family.
Siddiqi, the Pearl family’s attorney, said the only legal option following the court’s decision to uphold Sheikh’s acquittal would be to request a review of the court’s decision. However, he said the review would be conducted by the same court that assigned the appeal. “In practical terms,” there are no further legal avenues to follow in Pakistan, he said.
Sheikh was convicted of helping to lure Pearl to a meeting in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, where he was kidnapped. Pearl had explored the link between Pakistani militants and Richard C. Reid, who was dubbed the “Shoe Bomber” after attempting to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoes.
Pearl disappeared Jan. 23 while investigating militant ties to the so-called shoe-bomber. His body was discovered in a shallow grave shortly after a gruesome video of his beheading was delivered to the US consulate in Karachi.