KARACHI, Pakistan – A provincial court in Pakistan on Thursday ordered the release of the man accused of the 2002 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, his defense lawyer said.
The Sindh Supreme Court release order overturns a decision by the Pakistani high court that Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main suspect in Pearl’s murder, should remain in custody, his lawyer said.
Sheikh was acquitted of Pearl’s murder earlier this year, but was detained while Pearl’s family appealed for acquittal.
Sheikh’s lawyer, Mehmood A. Sheikh, with whom he is not related, asked that his client be released immediately.
“The detention order has been overturned,” said Faisal Siddiqi, the lawyer for the Pearl family. Sheikh will be released until the appeal is completed, he said, but will be returned to prison if the family manages to annul the acquittal.
Sheikh was sentenced to death and three others were sentenced to life in prison for their role in Pearl’s death.
But in April, the Sindh Supreme Court acquitted him and three others, a move that surprised the United States government, Pearl’s family and journalism groups.
Absolution is now being appealed separately by the government and the Pearl family.
The government opposed Sheikh’s release, saying it would put the public at risk.
The Supreme Court will resume its hearing on January 5.
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Sheikh was convicted of helping to lure Pearl into a meeting in the southern Pakistan port city of Karachi, at which he was abducted.
Pearl was investigating the connection between Pakistani militants and Richard C. Reid, nicknamed “Shoe Bomber” after trying to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoes.
A horrible video of Pearl’s beheading was sent to the US consulate. The 38-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter from Encino, California, was kidnapped on January 23, 2002.