Pakistan’s Supreme Court Releases Man Accused Of Killing Daniel Pearl
On Thursday, Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ruled that four men convicted of kidnapping and murdering American journalist Daniel Pearl should go free.
Daniel Pearl was a Wall Street Journal reporter covering militants in Pakistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. Daniel Pearl was told he was meeting with a radical cleric when instead he was kidnapped, held for days, and beheaded. Assailants filmed Pearl’s beheading and later sent it to United States officials.
The Ruling
Four men were arrested in 2002, and convicted of the kidnap and murder of Pearl. One, British national Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, was given the death penalty; but his case was reopened because of claims of lack of evidence.
In April last year, a high court in Sindh province, overturned the convictions of three of the four men; and reduced Sheikh’s sentence to seven years in prison, meaning he was eligible for release on time served.
The acquittal of the mastermind of Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and execution speaks volumes about Pakistan today. My piece in @WSJopinion https://t.co/cCn4NBjE4m
— Husain Haqqani (@husainhaqqani) January 29, 2021
both the Pearl family and the Pakistani authorities appealed to the country’s Supreme Court, which on Thursday ruled against them.
The court did not provide any justification behind its ruling. The complete reasons will “be recorded later,” the court said.
According to a statement from lawyer Faisal Siddique Said; the family was “in complete shock” at the majority decision. They described the majority decision as a “complete travesty of justice” which would endanger journalists and the people of Pakistan.
The statement urged the US government “to take all necessary actions under the law to correct this injustice”; and added that the family hoped the Pakistani authorities would also act.
Thursday evening, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called the court’s decision “an affront to terrorism victims everywhere, including in Pakistan.” In a statement. He added that Saeed remains in custody; and that the United States expects Pakistani authorities to “expeditiously review its legal options to ensure justice is served.”
Blinken also noted that Saeed “was indicted in the United States in 2002 for hostage-taking and conspiracy to commit hostage-taking, resulting in the murder of Pearl,”; and that the United States is prepared to prosecute Saeed.
Pakistani authorities have prevented Saeed from being released in the past, and Pakistani legal experts say it’s possible that another charge could be brought against him to keep him behind bars.
