Pakistan court orders release of man convicted over 2002 beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl

Pakistan’s Supreme Court has ordered the release of a Pakistani man convicted but recently acquitted in the gruesome beheading of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002.

The court also dismissed an appeal of Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh’s acquittal by Mr Pearl’s family.

Mr Sheikh has been on death row since his conviction in the death of Mr Pearl in 2002. His attorney said Mr Sheikh “should not have spent one day in jail.”

Attorney Mehmood A. Sheikh, no relation, said the court ordered three other Pakistanis, who had been sentenced to life in prison for their part in Mr Pearl’s kidnapping and death, also freed.

“Today’s decision is a complete travesty of justice and the release of these killers puts in danger journalists everywhere and the…