Man accused of beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl ordered released by Pakistani court
By Shaiq Hussain,
Waseem Khan AP
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — The man convicted of beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl is set to walk free after Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered his release Thursday.
The Pearl family was “in complete shock” after hearing of the decision, according to a statement from their lawyer Faisal Siddiqi, who called the ruling “a complete travesty of justice.”
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was the main suspect in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter covering militants in Pakistan in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. Saeed, a British-born Pakistani who was implicated in other kidnappings, was sentenced to death for Pearl’s murder and kidnapping, but his case was reopened because of claims of lack of evidence.
Saeed’s sentence was overturned by a provincial court last year. The Pearl family quickly appealed, but that was ultimately dismissed Thursday by the Supreme Court.
“This is an infuriating and unjust decision,” said the Wall Street Journal’s editor in chief Matt Murray. “We’ll continue to support efforts to hold to account those responsible for the brutal murder of Danny.”
The State Department did not immediately comment on Thursday’s decision, but had described the 2020 overturning of Saeed’s sentence as “an affront to victims of terrorism everywhere.” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had vowed the United States would continue to “demand justice for his brutal murder.”
But following the decision from Pakistan’s highest court, there are few legal avenues open to the Pearl family. Lawyers representing the Pearl family may petition for a review of Thursday’s ruling, but it’s rare for such reviews to be accepted, according to Abdul Latif Afridi, the president of Pakistan’s supreme court bar association.
The lawyer representing Saeed said, “today’s order by the Supreme Court shows that the courts are independent, and they don’t come under any pressure. I am satisfied with the court’s order.” Mahmood Sheikh said he expects his client to be released immediately.
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.
Pearl was told he was meeting with a radical cleric when instead he was kidnapped, held for days and beheaded. When Saeed was convicted months later, he was sentenced for planning Pearl’s kidnapping and murder.
But a 2011 investigation by the Center for Public Integrity’s Pearl Project found that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, killed Pearl. Mohammed was captured in Pakistan in 2003 and is being held at the U.S. military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. He is not charged in the journalist’s killing.
Pakistan was under immense pressure in 2002 to find the people responsible for Pearl’s killing. At the time of Saeed’s conviction, defense attorneys raised questions about the weight of evidence against him.
Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed.
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