Doctor who helped CIA catch Osama bin Laden 'set for release,' says lawyer

Osama bin Laden. (AP)

• A senior lawyer said, it is rare that a criminal is awarded consecutive punishment on different charges.
• Afridi was accused of helping the CIA track down Al-Qaeda kingpin in Abbottabad by running a fake polio vaccine campaign.

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani doctor jailed after helping US forces hunt down Osama bin Laden could be released this month, according to his lawyer.
Dr. Shakil Afridi was arrested after running a fake vaccine program that helped the CIA confirm the Al-Qaeda leader’s presence in his Abbottabad compound. A US Navy Seal raid subsequently killed bin Laden in May, 2011.
Afridi was shifted to Rawalpindi’s high-security Adiala jail from Peshawar prison on Friday, leading to speculation that he may be released or handed over to the US.
Afridi’s lawyer, Qamar Nadeem, told Arab News that Afridi would complete a 10-year jail sentence on May 23 after official remissions were taken into account.
Afridi was given a 33-year jail term on four different charges. Under Pakistani law, a prisoner can be released on completion of his maximum sentence on one charge, Nadeem said.
“I am sure Afridi will be released by the end of this month,” he said.
Nadeem said that Afridi had been charged under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), a set of archaic laws applicable only to federally administered tribal areas. It was the prerogative of the federal government and Pakistan’s president to decide his fate.
Afridi was taken into custody shortly after the killing of bin Laden by the US forces in May, 2011.
Sharafat Ali, a senior lawyer and legal consultant to the Ministry of Human Rights, said “it is rare that a criminal is awarded consecutive punishment on different charges.
“The relevant authorities in Afridi’s case will have no legal justification to keep him in jail after completion of his sentence,” he told Arab News.
Afridi was accused of helping the CIA track down Al-Qaeda kingpin in Abbottabad by running a fake polio vaccine campaign, but was never tried on charges of helping a foreign spy agency. Instead, it emerged in May 2012 that he had been tried under the FCR and sentenced to 33 years in prison for his alleged links with militant outfit Lashkar-i-Islam and its chief Mangal Bagh.
Afridi’s brother Jamil said that no one from his family has been informed about transfer of his brother to Adiala jail in Rawalpindi.
“We are worried about his health and whereabouts,” he told Arab News. “At least someone from the government should tell us where he is.”
Commenting on Afridi’s possible release, he said: “I am not aware of any such development and this may not be the right time to say anything about this possibility.”
US President Donald Trump said in an interview during his election campaign that he could have Afridi released in two minutes and he was certain that Pakistani officials would not object.
Pakistan later condemned his statement and said Afridi’s fate would be decided by Islamabad, not Washington.
Lt. Gen. (retired) Amjad Shoaib, a security analyst, said the government should not allow Afridi to leave Pakistan after completion of his jail term.
“If (Afridi) is allowed to go abroad, he will indulge in a propaganda campaign against Pakistan,” Shoaib told Arab News.
“We are a sovereign nation and we shouldn’t accept pressure from any country, including the US, over the issue of Afridi,” he said.