British militant acquitted of Daniel Pearl killing to be moved to rest house for family visits
Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh will be allowed to have family visits, but not a telephone or the internet
2 February 2021 • 6:09pm
Saeed Sheikh, (C) the father of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, said: It is not a complete freedom. It is a step toward freedom.
A British public schoolboy-turned-militant who was acquitted of the murder of an American journalist must be moved to a rest house for family visits, Pakistan s top court ruled.
Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh will leave death row as a stepping stone to his release, in a decision which is likely to further anger Washington.
3 Min Read
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the release from prison on Tuesday of a British-born militant who had been convicted in the kidnapping and murder of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl by al Qaeda and Pakistani Islamist militants in 2002.
In a decision that is expected to draw criticism from the United States, the court recommended that Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh be transferred to a government safe house as a stepping stone to his full release after spending 18 years on death row.
“He should be moved to a comfortable residential environment, something like a rest house where he can live a normal life,” said Justice Omar Ata Bandyal.
Kathy Gannon
Ahmed Saeed Sheikh, left, father of British-born Pakistani Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, leaves following Daniel Pearl case hearing in the Supreme Court, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. Pakistan s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Pakistani-British man acquitted of the 2002 gruesome beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl off death row and moved to a so-called government safe-house . (AP Photo/Anjum Naveed) February 02, 2021 - 4:12 AM
ISLAMABAD - Pakistanâs Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Pakistani-British man acquitted of the 2002 gruesome beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl off death row and moved to a so-called government âsafe house.
Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, who has been on death row for 18 years, will be under guard and will not be allowed to leave the safe house, but he will be able to have his wife and children visit him.
Daniel Pearl was a journalist for The Wall Street Journal. (The Daniel Pearl Foundation)
ISLAMABAD (AP) Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the Pakistani-British man acquitted of the 2002 gruesome beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl off death row and moved to a so-called government “safe house.”
Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, who has been on death row for 18 years, will be under guard and will not be allowed to leave the safe house, but he will be able to have his wife and children visit him.
“It is not complete freedom. It is a step toward freedom,” said Sheikh’s father, Ahmad Saeed Sheikh, who attended the hearing.
The court had ordered Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh’s release on January 28. Feb 02, 2021 · 06:49 pm In this file photo taken on March 29, 2002, police escort British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh out of a court in Karachi. | Aamir Qureshi / AFP
Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the prime accused in the kidnapping and murder of United States journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002, to be moved from prison, reported AP. The Supreme Court had on January 28 upheld a High Court’s order to release Sheikh.
He will be shifted to a safehouse and will be guarded. Sheikh’s children and family will be able to visit him. “It is not complete freedom,” said his father Ahmad Saeed Sheikh. “It is a step toward freedom.”