Pakistani court orders release of man convicted in Daniel Pearl murder
A provincial court in Pakistan on Thursday ordered the release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, the man convicted in 2002 as the mastermind of the kidnapping and murder of The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.
The Sindh High Court in Karachi set aside Sheikh's death sentence in April, and downgraded his conviction from terrorism, kidnapping, and murder to the lesser crime of kidnapping, per The Wall Street Journal. That carries a maximum sentence of seven years, so Sheikh, who had served 18 years, was eligible for release. The same court overturned the convictions of three accomplices who had been sentenced to life in prison.
Pearl's family is appealing Sheikh's acquittal on the murder charge. Pakistani authorities had used emergency detention powers to keep Sheikh and the three others in prison.
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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