Pearl was the head of the Wall Street Journal’s South Asian bureau when he was kidnapped in Karachi in January 2002.
AFP
UPDATED ON JAN 28, 2021 1:55 PM
The Pakistani Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a series of appeals against the acquittal of the British-born militant convicted of the kidnapping and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl, paving the way for his release.
“The court has found that there is no crime he has committed in this case,” Mahmood Sheikh, who represented Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, told AFP.
The Supreme Court decision comes after international outcry last year when a lower court acquitted the 47-year-old of murder and reduced his conviction to a lesser charge of kidnapping – overturning his death sentence and his release after nearly two decades to arrange prison.
Pearl was the head of the Wall Street Journal’s South Asian bureau when he was kidnapped in Karachi in January 2002 while researching a story about militant Islamists.
Almost a month later, after a series of ransom demands were made, a graphic video of his beheading was served to the US consulate.
Get our daily newsletter in your inbox
Subscribe to
Thank you for subscribing to our daily newsletter.
Shut down