Daniel Pearl's family to appeal murder acquittals
January 31, 2021
The family of American journalist Daniel Pearl will challenge an order by Pakistan's Supreme Court to acquit British-born Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh and his three co-accused of the reporter's killing, Judea Pearl, the journalist's father, said on Sunday.
Pearl, 38, was the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal when he was abducted and killed in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in January 2002. He had been investigating Islamist militants in the city the wake of the September 11 attacks in the US.
"We decided indeed to file for a review petition against the unjust Supreme Court decision, to ensure that those responsible for our son's murder will remain behind bars," Judea wrote on Twitter.
Pearl's former Wall Street Journal colleague Asra Nomani posted a video statement of the journalist's parents on Twitter, in which they condemned the acquittals and demanded justice for their son.
"It is beyond belief that Ahmad Omar Sheikh – who after 18 years of lies, had finally admitted in a handwritten letter to the court his role in the kidnapping for ransom of Daniel Pearl – has been given a clean slate and let loose once again upon the world to continue his international terrorist activities," the family said in the statement.
'Insufficient evidence'
On Thursday, a three-judge Supreme Court bench directed authorities to release Sheikh, who was sentenced to death for his role in Pearl's killing.
Defense lawyers say Sheikh was a scapegoat and sentenced on insufficient evidence.
On Friday, the government in the southern province of Sindh, where Sheikh and his co-accused were being held, filed three review petitions with the Supreme Court seeking a reversal of the acquittal.
US 'outraged'
US President Joe Biden's administration was "outraged by the Pakistani Supreme Court's decision," White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters earlier this week.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said Washington was prepared to prosecute Sheikh in the US.
Blinken spoke with Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday, expressing his "concern about the potential release of these prisoners," according to a spokesman for the US Department of State.
shs/mm (AP, Reuters)