[ad_1]
A Pakistani court ordered the immediate release of 4 men accused of plotting the 2002 kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.
Last April, the same court, the Supreme Court of Sindh, commuted the death sentence of the main suspect of British origin, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and resolved to acquit three others for lack of evidence against him.
Despite the ruling, the Pakistani authorities have kept the four in their custody for the past eight months, due to public order problems.
“The petitioners must be released immediately after receiving this judgment, unless they are wanted in connection with other cases or a judgment has been passed preventing their release by the Supreme Court of Pakistan,” the text of the judgment indicates. issued today.
The government had appealed the April ruling to the Supreme Court and Pearl’s parents had petitioned the country’s highest judicial body to seek to overturn the decision to acquit the suspects. The appeals are still in court.
Pearl, 38, was a reporter for the “Wall Street Journal” when he was kidnapped while investigating militant activities in Karachi after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the United States.
His case received world media attention after the release of a video clip of his massacre weeks after his abduction.
Source: Reuters
[ad_2]
