Pakistan Supreme Court: Daniel Pearl Case Suspect Will Now Be Released

The three bench Justice of Pakistan today declared the release of Ahmed Omer Saeed Sheikh, the man convicted of killing the then South Asia’s Bureau Chief of Wall Street Daniel Pearl.

 

 

A Pakistan lower court, last year, downgraded Omer’s crime regulating it to mere abduction punishable by seven years in prison. After the incident happened in 2002, Omer was declared to be the prime suspect in Pearl’s murder.

Sheikh was convicted of helping lure Pearl to a meeting in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, during which he was kidnapped.

 

 

The Justices ordering Omer’s acquittal stated his crimes had no proof and all the suspects are acquitted and released. However, the court did not mention the exact release date.

The court further denied Pearl family’s request to continue Omer’s punishment.

The Pearl family after the release statement from the court addressed the wrongful decision saying “Today’s decision is a complete travesty of justice and the release of these killers puts in danger journalists everywhere and the people of Pakistan.”

“By a majority of two to one, they have acquitted all the accused persons and ordered their release,” said attorney General Salman Talibuddin.

Another lawyer Mehmood A Sheikh translated that the three other Pakistanis involved in the case were released by the court.

The lawyers from Omer’s side claimed Omer and the others now holding the release from the Pakistan court has been targeted and were forced to act as scapegoat in the murder conspiracy. But it is speculated that Omer himself was a part of the Pakistani terror group Al Qaeda and beheaded the group in Pearl killing.

Daniel Pearl was kidnapped a year after the 9/11 attacks while he went to interview a spiritual leader Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani. After the US officials declared the war on terror on the US grounds and ordered the US to fight on the grounds of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, several journalists gathered to Pakistani grounds to perform their duties and bring war reports for America.

Daniel was one of them and he was abducted by a group of terrorists while his death was announced later. One of the policemen Hassan Abbas who now serves as a teacher in the National Defence University consented to Sheikh's participation in the September 11 attacks and killing of Wall Street Journal’s Journalist Daniel Pearl.  

After Daniel went missing for a day and various ransom demands were made, a video showing his beheading reached US consulate, Karachi.

Since then, Omer Sheikh and the three others involved in the case were prosecuted for a lifetime imprisonment. Sheikh and the three other men convicted of the kidnapping have been held under emergency orders by the Sindh provincial government, which has argued that they are a danger to the public.

US acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen last month said, the United States “stands ready to take custody of Omar Sheikh to stand trial here” after labelling the acquittal “an affront to terrorism victims everywhere”.

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