LAWYER’S RELEASE HOPE AS SHAKIL AFRIDI MOVED TO RAWALPINDI JAIL
PRISON authorities in Pakistan moved the jailed doctor believed to have helped the CIA hunt down Osama bin Laden, his lawyer said last Saturday (28), speculating it could be a prelude to his release.
The continued imprisonment of Dr Shakil Afridi has been a source of tension between Pakistan and the US, which cut military aid over accusations that Islamabad continues to shelter Taliban militants fighting US and Afghan soldiers across the border in Afghanistan.
A jail official in Peshawar said on condition of anonymity that Afridi had been transferred to Adiala prison in Rawalpindi, near the capital Islamabad, but said the reasons were unclear and could simply be related to security.
Afridi’s lawyer, Qamar Nadeem, confirmed the transfer of his client, but said he was not sure where he was now. Jamil Afridi, the doctor’s brother, confirmed that he had been informed by government officials that “Shakil has been moved to a safer place”.
Judicial officials could not be reached for comment last week, nor could embassy officials for the US, which has for years called on Pakistan to release Afridi.
President Donald Trump vowed during his election campaign that he would order Pakistan to free Afridi.
“I’m sure they would let them (him) out. Because we give a lot of aid to Pakistan,” Trump told Fox News at the time, adding that Pakistan “takes advantage like everybody else”.
The comments sparked a blistering rebuttal from Pakistan, whose interior minister at the time branded Trump “ignorant”. He stated that the “government of Pakistan and not Donald Trump” would decide Afridi’s fate.
Afridi was accused of treason after word spread that he had helped the CIA collect genetic samples of the bin Laden family. It paved the way for a US Navy Seal raid in 2011 in the town of Abbottabad that killed the al-Qaeda leader accused of plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks on the US.
The doctor was arrested just days after the surprise US operation – which Pakistan called a violation of its sovereignty – and charged with aiding terrorists.
Afridi was sentenced to 23 years’ jail for financing terrorism. That conviction was overturned in 2013, but he is still serving time for other terrorism-related convictions, his lawyer said.
In addition, he faced a murder trial related to the death of a patient more than a decade ago.
However, Nadeem said Afridi had recently had his latest sentence reduced to seven years in a clemency action, and had served about that amount of time already. “So I think he can be released very soon,” the lawyer said.
There were no other immediate indications that any release was in the works, however.
A US State Department official, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, called on the Pakistani government to ensure Afridi’s safety after the move.
“We are aware of reports that Dr Afridi has been transferred to another prison, and call on the government of Pakistan to take all necessary measures to ensure Dr Afridi’s safety,” the official said. (Reuters, AFP)
