Updated
Jan 28, 2021
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh had received the death penalty.
Syed Raza Hassan
KARACHI, Pakistan (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 acquitted 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.
After 18 years of denial, the Pakistani suspect convicted and later acquitted in the 2002 beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl has told a court he played a “minor" role in the killing, the Pearl family lawyer said Wednesday.
BBC News
By Secunder Kermani
image captionDaniel Pearl went missing in Karachi in 2002 while researching extremism
Pakistan s Supreme Court has ordered the release of four men accused of the murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.
Pearl, the Wall Street Journal s South Asia bureau chief, was kidnapped and beheaded while working on a story about extremist groups in Pakistan.
A British-born alleged militant was originally convicted of masterminding the operation, with three accomplices.
However, Pakistan s top court has now upheld a ruling acquitting the men.
A lawyer for Daniel Pearl s family said they were in complete shock , and the decision was a travesty of justice .
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.