ISLAMABAD: A British-born militant sentenced to death for the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl was ordered to be let out of prison Thursday by a Pakistan court in the latest twist to a legal saga spanning nearly two decades.
The court said, however, that Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh should remain in custody in accommodation similar to that given to prison staff while another appeal is considered.
Sheikh and three accomplices have been behind bars since 2002 when they were convicted of the kidnapping and murder of Pearl — at the time the South Asia bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal.
Since then they have won and lost a series of appeals and counter-appeals in connection with the case, with a top court last year overturning their murder convictions.
That decision meant they had completed their sentences on the kidnapping charge, and the court in January ordered them to be released.
They were kept in custody, however, as the provincial and federal governments — as well as Pearl’s family — launched another petition to keep them behind bars.
On Thursday the court said they should be confined to prison staff accommodation.
“We are not satisfied with the continuous detention of this person,” Justice Umar Ata Bandial told the court.
“The detainee Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh shall be accommodated in a government building in which officers of jail reside.”
Lawyers said Sheikh will likely be transferred from Karachi to Lahore, his ancestral home.
It was not immediately clear when the judges would make a final ruling on the case proper, or if prosecutors have exhausted all avenues of appeal.
Militant convicted and acquitted of Daniel Pearl murder to leave prison
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Militant convicted and acquitted of Daniel Pearl murder to leave prison
- Omar Sheikh ordered to be let out of prison Thursday by a Pakistan court in the latest twist to a legal saga spanning nearly two decades
- Court says Sheikh should remain in custody in accommodation similar to that given to prison staff while another appeal is considered
Pakistan expresses solidarity with Canada as school shooting claims 9 lives
- At least 9 dead, 27 wounded in shooting incident at secondary school, residence in British Columbia on Tuesday
- Officials say the shooter was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound after the incident
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday expressed solidarity with Canada as a high school shooting incident in a British Columbia town left at least nine dead, more than 20 others injured.
Six people were found at the Tumbler Ridge Secondary School while a seventh died on the way to the hospital, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said in a statement on Tuesday. Two other people were found dead at a home that police believe is connected to the shooting at the school. A total of 27 people were wounded in the attack.
In an initial emergency alert, police described the suspect as a “female in a dress with brown hair,” with officials saying she was found dead with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
“Saddened by the tragic shooting in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia,” Sharif wrote on social media platform X.
He conveyed his condolences to the families of the victims, wishing a swift recovery to those injured in the attack.
“Pakistan stands in solidarity with the people and Government of Canada in this difficult time,” he added.
Canadian police have not yet released any information about the age of the shooter or the victims.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said he was “devastated” by the violence, announcing he had suspended plans to travel to the Munich Security Conference on Wednesday.
While mass shootings are rare in Canada, last April, a vehicle attack that targeted a Filipino cultural festival in Vancouver killed 11 people.
British Columbia Premier David Eby called the latest violence “unimaginable.”
Nina Krieger, British Columbia’s minister of public safety, described it as one of the “worst mass shootings” in Canada’s history.
