Sheikh was acquitted of Pearl’s murder earlier this year, but has been detained while Pearl’s family appeals the acquittal.
A provincial court in Pakistan has ordered the release of a British-born Pakistani accused of the 2002 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the main suspect in Pearl’s murder, was acquitted of the murder charges earlier this year, but has been in custody while Pearl’s family appeals the acquittal.
On Thursday, the Sindh High Court’s release order overturns a decision by the same court with his lawyer, Mehmood Sheikh, requesting the immediate release of his client.
Sheikh was sentenced to death and three others received life sentences for their role in the plot. But in April this year, all four were acquitted.
Thursday’s court order, seen by Al Jazeera, noted that “none of the petitioners are ‘enemy aliens’ … and as such, their detention under this article of the constitution is considered illegal and without legal authority.”
The acquittal is now being appealed separately by both the government and Pearl’s family. The government has opposed Sheikh’s release, saying it would endanger the public.
The Supreme Court will resume its hearing in January 5.
“This arrest warrant has been overturned, which just means they are free until their appeals are decided,” Faisal Siddiqi, the Pearl family’s lawyer, told Al Jazeera before adding that Sheikh will be released until the completion of the appeal, but it will be returned. to prison if the family can annul the acquittal.
The four were “detained in jail by an arrest warrant from the Sindh government, not by the order of the Supreme Court, pending appeals,” he added.
“I don’t expect them to get out of jail. The Sindh government is appealing today’s order. Also, his appeals to the Supreme Court are set for January 5. If the appeals are approved, they will go to jail permanently ”.
The court order added that all four will be included on the Departure Checklist, which would prevent them from leaving the country, until the Supreme Court has decided on appeals.
‘Bomber shoe’
Pearl, the 38-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter from Encino, California, was kidnapped on January 23, 2002.
Sheikh was convicted of helping to lure Pearl to a meeting in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, where he was kidnapped.
Pearl had been investigating the link between the Pakistani fighters and Richard C. Reid, nicknamed the “Shoe Bomber” after attempting to fly a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoes.
A gruesome video of Pearl’s beheading was sent to the US consulate.
In Sheikh’s original trial, emails between Sheikh and Pearl filed in court showed that Sheikh gained Pearl’s trust by sharing their experiences while they both awaited the birth of their first child.
Additional information from Hafsa Adil
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