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Pakistan Court Orders Authorities to Free Man Convicted of Murdering US
Journalist

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - A court in Pakistan's southern Sindh province ordered
   authorities Thursday to immediately release the British national
   convicted in the 2002 murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

   Thursday's ruling by the high court in Karachi, the provincial capital,
   canceled a temporary detention order that had prevented British-born
   Ahmed Omar Sheikh from leaving prison since the same court overturned
   his murder conviction eight months ago.

   The April 2020 verdict modified Sheikh's sentence to seven years in
   prison for kidnapping only, allowing him to be freed for time served.
   Three other men -- also convicted in the case and sentenced to life in
   prison at the same trial 18 years ago -- were acquitted.

   Pakistani authorities quickly moved to halt the release of the four
   men, citing public safety concerns, a law often used in high-profile
   cases to buy time for prosecutors to file an appeal.

   Thursday's written ruling, obtained by VOA, struck down the preventive
   detention order, directing authorities that the four men "shall be
   released from jail forthwith." It ordered authorities to not allow
   Sheikh and the others to leave Pakistan.

   The judges also directed federal and provincial governments not to
   arrest or place the four men "under any prevention detention order '¦
   without the prior permission of the court."

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