Islamabad, March 17- Pakistani officials Saturday reduced by 10 years a sentence given to a doctor who allegedly helped American CIA get information about the al-Qaeda chief, Osama bin Laden, Xinhua news agency reported officials as saying.
A tribal court had handed down 33 years in prison to Shakil Afridi in 2012, who was suspected of running a fake vaccination campaign to get DNA sample of Osama bin Laden killed by the US military in the Pakistani city of Abbotabad in May 2011.
The court had imposed jail term for Afridi’s alleged colluding with a banned militant group “Lashkar-i-Islam.” The tribal court had not entertained evidence relating to Shakil Afridi’s involvement with the CIA, citing lack of jurisdiction. However, it was strongly believed that the punishment was for his role in the episode of the al-Qaeda chief.
Afridi’s lawyers and family had rejected his links with the banned group and had filed an appeal against his conviction. The appeal stated that Afridi was kidnapped by “Lashkar-e-Islam” in 2008 and ordered to pay one million rupees.
Last August, a judicial official overturned the 33-year jail sentence against Shakil Afridi and ruled that the previous judge in the case exceeded his authority when giving the sentence, and ordered a new trial.
A judicial official Commissioner Frontier Crimes Regulation ( FCR), a British-era law still enforced in the tribal regions of Pakistan, on Saturday announced the new verdict, reducing the sentence by 10 years.
The commissioner, Munir Azam, also cut the doctor’s penalty by 100,000 rupees from over 300,000.
Afridi’s lawyers said they would file appeal against the new verdict, as they want the whole jail term to be declared null and void.
According to Xinhua, then-US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta had confirmed Afridi had worked for US intelligence by collecting DNA to verify bin Laden’s presence.
Angry at the jail term, some American lawmakers saw the sentence as retaliation for his role in bin Laden’s capture, and have threatened to freeze millions of dollars in vital aid to Islamabad.
– Bernama
