Media Freedom NGOs and Jewish Groups Express Outrage at Release of Daniel Pearl’s Killers

Media organizations and Jewish groups were among those reacting furiously on Thursday to the decision of a Pakistani court to immediately release four men accused of orchestrating the 2002 kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl.

Pearl, a 38-year-old Wall Street Journal reporter, was investigating Islamist militants in Karachi after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States when he was seized by terrorists connected to Al Qaeda.

His gruesome death by beheading was captured on video, and included Pearl saying the words, “My father is Jewish, my mother is Jewish, I am Jewish,” moments before he was killed.

The France-based organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF) denounced the Pakistani court’s decision on Twitter for symbolizing “the impunity of crimes against journalists.”

Separately, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) — another leading media freedom NGO — tweeted that the release of British-born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who masterminded Pearl’s abduction and killing, would increase “the threats facing journalists in Pakistan.”

#OmarSheikh sentenced to death for beheading #DanielPearl, correspondent of @WSJ in 2002, will be released in the coming hours. Opposed to the death penalty, @RSF_inter denounces a decision that symbolizes the impunity of crimes against journalists pic.twitter.com/XIye1nmavz

— RSF (@RSF_inter) December 24, 2020

CPJ supports the pursuit of justice for Daniel Pearl. Releasing Omar Saeed Sheikh and his accomplices would add to the threats facing journalists in Pakistan. https://t.co/AeThzICpWP

— Committee to Protect Journalists (@pressfreedom) December 24, 2020

Jewish groups also rebuked the Pakistani court.

“We strongly condemn the order made by the Sindh High Court in Pakistan today to release the four men accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002,” B’nai B’rith International said in a statement. “This decision is not only a miscarriage of justice, it is also an insult to the memory of Daniel Pearl and to his family.”

Jonathan Greenblatt — CEO of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) — expressed similar outrage.

Outraged that a suspect involved in the heinous #antisemitic kidnapping and murder of reporter Daniel Pearl has been freed by a Pakistani court.  We continue to support the Pearl family in their pursuit of #JusticeForDanielPearl.  https://t.co/1nYIv9VZZg

— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) December 24, 2020