A Pakistani court on Thursday ordered the immediate release of the four suspects in the beheading of journalist Daniel Pearl – challenging his own government, which had demanded that they stay behind bars.
The Sindh Supreme Court has issued a written order that accused mentor Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and the alleged cohorts Fahad Naseem, Sheikh Adil and Salman Saqib be “released from prison immediately,” according to Agence France-Presse (AFP) .
“The release may take place today, if not in the next 24 hours,” the men’s lawyer, Mahmood Sheikh – who is not related to the arrested militant – told the news agency.
“There is no legal impediment to releasing them,” he added, despite orders from the Pakistani government to remain in detention.
Suspect Sheikh, born in Britain, was sentenced to death in 2002 for the kidnapping and beheading of the Wall Street Journal reporter in January of that year, a horrible crime that was filmed and sent to the United States consulate. The other three suspects were all sentenced to life in prison.
The same provincial court that ordered his release on Thursday had overturned his murder sentences and sentences in April this year, a move that surprised the United States government, Pearl’s family and journalism groups.
Sheikh’s conviction was downgraded to kidnapping, which leads to a maximum of seven years in prison, less than he had already served, said the Wall Street Journal.
The Pakistani government has ordered them to remain behind bars until appeals are heard, highlighting Sheikh as a specific danger if released.
Pearl’s family lawyer Faisal Siddiqi said the provincial government in Sindh is appealing the order to release Sheik.
The acquittals are being appealed separately by the Pakistani government and the Pearl family. The Supreme Court will resume its hearing on January 5.
Pearl, a 38-year-old reporter from Encino, California, was abducted on January 23, 2002 in Karachi while investigating links between Pakistani militants and “suicide bomber” Richard Reid.
In Sheikh’s original trial, emails showed that he gained Pearl’s trust by sharing his experiences in waiting for the birth of his first child, with Pearl’s wife, Marianne, giving birth to a son, Adam, four months after the birth. murder of the reporter.
Sheikh, an experienced jihadist who studied at the London School of Economics, was arrested days after Pearl’s abduction and later sentenced to death by hanging.
Pearl’s widow long ago predicted that he would never be killed that way, however.
“The fact that he was sentenced to death does not mean that he is going to die. Definitely not, “she said in 2003.” I think he deserves to die and that he should die, he is a psychopath, “she said.
However, a report released by the Pearl Project at Georgetown University stated that the wrong men were convicted of Pearl’s murder.
Instead, the investigation says Pearl was murdered by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the alleged intellectual author of the 9/11 attacks. Mohammed was arrested in Pakistan in 2003 and is being held in Guantánamo Bay.
Wired