Raymond Davis, CIA Contractor, Freed from Pakistani Jail

Mar 16, 2011, 07:42

Raymond Davis was freed this afternoon after more than a month of being held in a Pakistani jail. The American man was accused of killing two Pakistani men in Lahore. His release came after he made payment to the victims' families, legal officials said.

Provincial law minister Rana Sanaullah said CIA contractor Raymond Davis was released after paying diyat, or blood money, to the relatives and they pardoned him, Geo News reported

"The family members of the slain men appeared in the court and independently verified they had pardoned (Davis)," Sanaullah said. He has been released from jail."

Davis now "can go wherever he wants," Sanaullah said.

Earlier Wednesday, a Pakistani court indicted Davis in the Jan. 27 shooting deaths of the two Pakistani men, which Davis claimed were in self-defense. The shootings led to diplomatic tensions between Pakistan and the United States, which has maintained Davis was an embassy employee and enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

Source: UPI