Reporter Daniel Pearl's friend says it's 'a travesty' that Pakistan is freeing his accused killer

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The release of a man once convicted in the gruesome murder of American reporter Daniel Pearl marks a dark day not just for Pearl's loved ones, but for all of Pakistan, says Asra Nomani. 

Pakistan's Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the release of Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, a Pakistani-British man convicted and later acquitted in Pearl's murder, along with his three alleged co-conspirators. 

The court also dismissed an appeal of Sheikh's acquittal by Pearl's family and the Pakistani government. The Sindh High Court that acquitted Sheikh said there was insufficient evidence in the case. 

Sheikh had been convicted of helping lure Pearl to a meeting in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi in 2002, during which he was kidnapped. The Wall Street Journal reporter had been investigating the link between Pakistani militants and the Richard C. Reid, the so-called "shoe bomber."

Later, a video of Pearl's beheading was delivered to the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, and his body was discovered in a shallow grave.

Nomani was a colleague and close friend of Pearl's. While working as professor at Washington's Georgetown University, she directed The Pearl Project, a faculty-student investigation into her friend's death.

She was also one of the last people to see him alive. Here is part of her conversation with As It Happens host Carol Off. 

What was your reaction when you heard about the Supreme Court's ruling today? 

I was just horrified. I'm on the East Coast in the U.S. and it was 2:08 a.m. We got the news from Faisal Siddiqi, the attorney for Danny's parents, Ruth and Judea. And we learned 2-1 that the Pakistani court … had decided to free Omar Sheikh and his co-conspirators. 

And I just thought: What a crime. You know, what a just travesty of justice. And I was shocked. 

And how are Daniel Pearl's parents taking this? 

Oh my gosh. I called Danny's dad immediately. And he's such an amazing, wise human being. And he said, "Asra, we at least have 24 hours left to live." Just to kind of recognize that we have life on this Earth and we have another day to step forward. 

But, you know, he and his wife and his daughters, they are committed to continuing to fight for Danny. And I was very happy to hear that he supports extradition for Omar Sheikh to the United States. 

And he sees it so clearly because he knows, and he said to me, you know, that … we all know that we can't bring Danny back. But this is not going to be good for Pakistan. This is not going to be good for the world. And it's not good for journalists. 

So what do you think is behind the court's decision? Is it a politically motivated decision to release these men? 

We tried so much, Carol. You know, all year, we tried so hard to play by the books, you know, and play by the rules and meet every deadline. 

And, you know, what they did is … what I was afraid of in 2002 when Danny was kidnapped, murdered and these four men convicted. I was afraid that the government was setting, you know, the stage for an appeal that could succeed to create loopholes, create a backdoor. And that's what they basically drove a Mack truck through in this appeal process.

The government put forward, unfortunately, a very lame prosecution. They did not do a good job. We tried so hard sincerely to believe in the process. Our lawyer, Danny's family's lawyer, worked so hard. 

You're one of the last people to see Daniel Pearl alive back in 2002. I know you've thought about this and talked about it, but tell us, if you would, about the morning he went off to conduct that interview, as you said goodbye to him. 

Danny was such a wonderful human being. Just a very regular guy. 

He was visiting my home that I rented in Karachi. He had arrived there with his wife, Mariane. She was seven months' pregnant. And I had gotten a five-track CD player because Danny loved music. And we played music the night before. 

And he left then in the afternoon in a taxi that the guard from my house had gotten from down the road. And I stood there with this beautiful scent of jasmine flowers from the garden behind us and these amazing parrots overhead squawking. And there was Danny, fumbling with all his stuff. He had his headset. He had this tape recorder. He had his phone, his notebook. 

And Mariane was standing beside me, and I waved to him. Mariane waved to him. I said, "See you later, buddy." And we never saw him again. 

How much does that day still haunt you? 

It is haunting. It's just, as you can probably tell in my retelling of this story, you know, details that I cannot forget. They're just imprinted in my brain.

This is a real death blow, a second death blow, you know, to the tragedy that was Danny's murder. 

We lost him in 2002, and now we lost justice today. 

You mentioned that Daniel's father … wants to see Omar Sheikh and the others extradited to the United States. The United States says it would like to put Mr. Sheikh on trial in the U.S. What are the chances that could ever happen? 

I have hope. But, you know, this is a real indictment of the society there and its inability to deal with this extremism problem that is homegrown. 

And it not only haunts somebody like me. It is haunting that country. 

It's not just justice for Danny. It's justice for Pakistan and its citizens that really the country should safeguard. So I really pray that they will do the right thing, extradite Omar and get rid of this militancy problem within their country. 

Written by Sheena Goodyear. Interview produced by Chris Harbord. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.