Thread by @jaketapper

#NEWS: Four men previously convicted in the 2002 kidnapping and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, have been moved out of jail to a guest house on Sunday, Pakistan jail authorities confirmed to CNN.

2/ Among the four men is British national, Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh who had previously been on death row due to his alleged involvement Pearl’s murder.  The men were moved in the early hours to a newly built guest house facility within the confines of Karachi Central Jail.

3/ This is the first time since 2002 that the four men have been moved from their jail cells. The men will remain in government custody.
However, they will be allowed visitation from their family members between 8am and 5pm local time, daily.

4/ The move follows the decision from Pakistan’s highest court – the Supreme Court of Pakistan – which ordered earlier this week to move the accused to a guest house facility while they wait for the hearing of a review appeal filed against their acquittal.

5/ Last April, a local Pakistani court overturned the convictions of three of the four men accused of the kidnapping and murder of Pearl and reduced Sheikh’s sentence from the death penalty to 7 years for kidnapping. The country’s Supreme Court upheld the acquittal in January.

6/ There is a now a final review appeal against their acquittal that’s pending in the Supreme Court. A date for this review appeal has not been determined yet.
 
All of the above reporting from journalist Irfan Ul Haque In Karachi and Sophia Saifi in Islamabad