The United States has expressed outrage at Pakistan’s Supreme Court to grant freedom to the man convicted of kidnapping and beheading American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002, who was working in the South Asian country for The Wall Street Journal.
“The United States is outraged by the Pakistani Supreme Court’s decision to affirm the acquittals of those responsible for Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl’s kidnapping and brutal murder, which shocked the world’s conscience in 2002,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.
“This decision to exonerate and release Sheikh and the other suspects is an affront to terrorism victims everywhere, including in Pakistan,” she said in reaction to the highest court’s decision to free Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh.
While working for the Journal, Pearl was abducted in port city Karachi in Pakistan’s south in 2002. His beheading, filmed and a video of it sent to U.S. officials, led to international condemnation.
Ahmed Sheikh was among four men convicted of kidnapping and murdering Pearl and was awaiting the death penalty. But a lower court overturned the convictions in April and reduced Sheikh’s sentence. In December the court ordered the men to be set free in December.
Pearl’s family and Pakistani authorities appealed the case to the Supreme Court.
The Pearl family in a statement released by their lawyer called the decision a “complete travesty of justice” and urged the U.S. government “to take all necessary actions under the law to correct this injustice,” a report in the Wall Street Journal said.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
Image: US State Department
The White House Press Secretary Psaki asked the Pakistani government to “expeditiously review its legal options, including allowing the United States to prosecute [Ahmad Saeed Omar] Sheikh for the brutal murder of an American citizen and journalist.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken added that the U.S. is “prepared to prosecute Sheikh in the United States for his horrific crimes against an American citizen.”
“We are committed to securing justice for Daniel Pearl’s family and holding terrorists accountable,” Blinken said in a statement.
Monty Wilkinson, the acting attorney general, also issued a statement reiterating that “the United States stands ready to take custody of Sheikh to stand trial here on the pending charges against him.”
