Daniel Pearl: Pakistan’s top court rules to release men previously convicted of kidnapping and murdering Daniel Pearl

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Pearl was working as head of a South Asian bureau for the Wall Street Journal in 2002 when he was abducted in the Pakistani city of Karachi, while reporting on Richard Reid, the British terrorist with him. called the “shoe bomber.”

The high-profile eviction drew international attention amid growing concern about the threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism.

Afterwards, attackers put a film on Pearl’s head and sent it to U.S. Officials. It was among the first propaganda videos targeting enemies created by terrorists, and helped incite other terrorist groups to film acts of horrific violence.

Four men were arrested in 2002, and convicted of Pearl’s kidnapping and murder. One, British nationalist Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh was sentenced to death.

But in April last year, a high court in the Sindh district, where Karachi is located, reconsidered the case after it emerged that investigators did not follow legal questioning procedures.

Citing ample evidence, inconsistency in police accounts, and urgent confession, the Sindh High Court overturned four male murder charges, concluding “No evidence was recorded by him. the prosecutor to link any of the appellants to Pearl’s murder. “Only Sheikh’s conviction for adoption still stands, although the accompanying seven-year sentence means that it already deserves to be released at the time it was served.
The court said the men had “suffered unsustainable harm and extreme prejudice” after spending 18 years behind bars, and in December ordered the release of all four.

The Pakistan Supreme Court on Thursday upheld that decision, ruling against appeals by both the Pearl family and Pakistani authorities.

Matt Murray, editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, said the ruling was “infuriating and unjust,” a sentiment raised by the Biden administration and the Pearl family.

White House news secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday that the U.S. was “embarrassed” by the decision, which she cited as a “complaint to victims of terrorism everywhere, taking into Pakistan. ”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the United States was willing to prosecute Sheikh in the US. “We expect the Pakistani government to swiftly review its legal options to ensure that justice is served,” he said.

Pearl’s father, Judea Pearl, told CNN that family members were “shocked and dismayed,” at the majority decision, which he described as “a crime against humanity, against journalism, against heart our civilization. So we are appalled and hope that steps will be taken to correct this injustice. “

He said they urged the U.S. Department of State and the Department of Justice to “move forward vigorously to expand demand for Omar [Saeed] Sheikh for this crime as well as others [crimes] He has vowed against U.S. citizens – and we hope that the Pakistani court and government will respond positively to such requests. “

Pearl’s father described the liberation as “an impartial message to people who would be terrorists and would be predators … all over the world.”

In a statement Thursday, U.S. Attorney General Monty Wilkinson said the U.S. was “ready” to arrest Sheikh for trial in the U.S.. “He must not be allowed to evade justice for his role in the abduction and murder of Daniel Pearl,” the statement said.

The four men, who remain in custody after a court ruling, have been placed on the country’s exit control list, barred from leaving the country, according to Pakistan’s interior ministry.

CNN’s Nikki Carvajal, Jonny Hallam, Hira Humayun, and Shawn Paik made a statement.

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