A Pakistani doctor accused of helping the CIA track down Osama bin Laden was sentenced Wednesday to 33 years in prison for treason, officials told CNN.
Shakeel Afridi was also fined $3,500 for spying for the United States, said Nasir Khan, a Khyber Agency official, and Fazal Mehmood, an official from the tribal court that handed down the sentence.
The court heard the case against Afridi for two months. The doctor was not afforded a chance to defend himself, which is in accordance with the laws of the tribal justice system, the two officials said.
Afridi was present at the sentencing and was sent to the central jail in nearby Peshawar.
Afridi helped the CIA use a vaccination campaign in an attempt to collect DNA samples from residents of bin Laden’s compound in the city of Abbottabad to verify the al Qaeda leader’s presence there.
Bin Laden was killed in the subsequent U.S. raid on the compound in May of last year.
At least one legal analyst said Afridi’s sentence was a sham.
Islamabad-based lawyer Shahzad Akbar said the punishment was handed down by a tribal court in Khyber even though the alleged offense occurred in Abbottabad, which raises questions about the legitimacy of the proceedings.
“This judgment won’t last,” Akbar told CNN. “If this punishment is challenged by Dr. Afridi’s family in the Superior Court of Pakistan, there is a good possibility that the sentence will be turned around.”
Human rights groups have often accused tribal courts of violating the fair trial process guaranteed under Pakistan’s constitution.
Akbar said the Afridi ruling could be a move by the government to save face without making a spectacle out of a sensitive situation.
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3 Responses
This is justice by tribal law and Sharia…this is what they want for the world…he wasn’t afforded a defense. Osama was a wanted criminal all over the world and was wanted dead or alive. This is a horrible way of meting out justice!!!!!
This is precisely what happened to Pollard.
Put in jail for spying for an ally.
Except that the “enlightened” USA gave Pollard life imprisonment and “primitive” Pakistan gave their spy – only – 33 years.
Does everyone out there see the equation?
The article makes a good point though: this isn’t about justice, or sharia law.it’s about Pakistan being embarrassed by America in the eyes of its people. the U.S. went in and out without Pakistan having a clue, or any say in the matter. They looked powerless. So, like any embarrassed bully, they beat up the little guy to save face.
It would be nice if the U.S. helped him out though. “we protect our friends” and all that