UPDATE 2-Islamist convicted of beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl to go free, victim's family in 'shock'
28 Jan 2021 / 19:44 H.
By Syed Raza Hassan and Asif Shahzad
KARACHI, Pakistan, Jan 28 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of an Islamist convicted of beheading U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl, a decision that has left his family in "complete shock", lawyers said.
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was the main suspect in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Pearl, was released by a panel of three judges.
"By a majority of two to one, they have acquitted all the accused persons and ordered their release," a provincial advocate general, Salman Talibuddin, told Reuters.