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Bin Laden informant: Dr Shakil Afridi sentenced to 33 years
In addition to his jail sentence, he was fined Rs320,000 under the tribal justice system in Khyber district.
File photo of Dr Shakil Afridi. PHOTO: EXPRESS
PESHAWAR: Dr Shakil Afridi, a government surgeon who helped the CIA uncover Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts, was sentenced to 33 years for treason, officials confirmed.
Afridi, who was sacked as a government doctor two months ago, was found guilty under the tribal justice system in Khyber district, part of Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt.
In addition to his jail sentence, he was fined Rs320,000. The doctor had worked for years as a surgeon in lawless Khyber, part of the Taliban and al Qaeda infested tribal belt.
Afridi was not present in the court and not given a chance to defend himself, officials said. Under the tribal system, he would not have had access to a lawyer.
“He has been sentenced for 33 years on treason charges and has been moved to Peshawar central jail after the verdict was announced by the local court,” said Mohammad Siddiq, spokesman for the administrative head of Khyber.
Afridi’s trial took place over several days under assistant political agent Nasir Khan in Khyber. The verdict was confirmed by his boss, the political agent, in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, the officials told AFP.
Under Pakistan’s tribal justice system, Afridi has the right to appeal.
Critics said Wednesday that he should not have been tried under tribal law in the tribal belt for an alleged crime that took place outside their jurisdiction.
He was sentenced under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) clauses related to offences against the state, conspiracy, or attempt to wage war against Pakistan, concealing with intent designs to wage war against the state and on charges of working against the country’s sovereignty, a Khyber administration official said.
In January, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta confirmed Afridi had aided US intelligence by collecting DNA to verify Bin Laden’s presence, and expressed concern about Pakistan’s treatment of him.
Seventeen other health officials, who worked on the same fake vaccination program set up by the CIA in a bid to confirm the al Qaeda chief was living in Abbottabad, have already been sacked from their government posts.
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LOL! That ought to teach him that Amerikans are not your friends. Hard lesson to learn but he’s got no one but himself to blame.
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@Saleem: I believe that in the US, that would be aiding and abetting the enemy. He’s lucky he’s in Pakistan, the US would have droned him and his entire family to pieces. Serves him right for being such a snitch. I’m willing to bet he’ll think again before doing it again…not that he’ll have another chance, of course.
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@Hammad: Are you talking about the terrorist Amerikans? If that’s the case, you should be corrected, they haven’t killed thousands but millions more like 16 MILLION around the world.
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Dr Afridi deserves Nishan e Haider it is those who kept the terrorists in pakistan who should be hanged
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So given information about the terrorist has become a crime in Pakistan!???
Free judiciary or Mullah Judiciary??
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Yes he should have informed the Pakistani authorities so that Bin Laden could have disappeared in time!
P.S. Depending of course on whether it WAS Bin Laden or not lol
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@Naseer: Oh you means you as in Pakistanis – I am an Indian. But no hard feelings. I sincerely hope you get “love and respect” from the whole world – which I much warn you will only happen after you change your policies and way of looking at the world.
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Dr Afridi did the right thing in the wrong manner. Deserved the punishment.
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Wow Al-Qaida justice system is really swift ! No jury, no public trial and 33 year imprisonment for helping capture someone which the Pakistan state claims was trying to capture ! Wow !
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@Naseer:
What did you expect from Senator McCain? It really is the pot calling the kettle black. The U.S. arrest people, and place them in torture camps around the world. Many people have been held in Guantanamo Bay detention centre for over ten years now without trial. Belatedly, the American Government is attempting to try so-called 9/11 terrorists in a military court because they know a civilian court would not give the result they want.. Although the Pakistan courts decision in regard to Dr. Afridi does not, on the face of it, appear safe, there can be no argument that he broke the law, and at least he has had a trial. Also, is Pakistan any worse than America when it comes to making questionable decisions? Whatever happens, I do not think there will be too many Pakistani doctors running fake vaccination programs as a cover up for foreign intelligence gathering, from now on.
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The name of Dr. Afirdi will be written in golden in Pashtun history. He exposed munafiqeen. In doind so he has done great service to Pahtuns on both sides of Durand line. It will be tragedy that the lone super power of the world is unable to side with those Pashtun who want peace not only their motherland but in the whole world. It is time for US to support young, progressive, peace loving Pashtuns & Baloch instead of supporting armies of terrorists.
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In real sense and actually Dr. Shakeel Afridi deserves death sentence according to his this crime.33 years’ imprisonment ain’t good enough for him.
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The International Forum and various agencies will bestow too many rewards and awards and would be declared a HERO against terrorism.
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Well done Pakistan.
They have at last found a scapegoat to please its people.
” Helping the Americans to find Osama ” .
That is the charge.
Who is Osama ????? In the Pakistani context. If helping him is a crime punishable by jail, then Osama’s status has to be revealed.
Was he a Pakistani national, was he a state guest , what was he ??????
What about all the other help given to the US in this regard all these years in terms of handing over Al quaida terrorists for bounties ???????
Heads of state have benefited from these schemes, read Musharraf.
What a load of hypocrisy this is, perpetrated by the courts of Pakistan, the last bastions of Democratic rule.
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@Sarmad Hassan:
@AMK:
What Afridi did was inform the Americans where a foreign national, accused and sought for terrorism, was hiding in Pakistan.
But if you still claim that Shakil Afridi betrayed Pakistan than you are also claiming that Osama bin Laden was an agent of the Pakistani government. If this is the case, then terrorism against the US is official Pakistani policy.
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Traitor because he worked for a foreign Spy Agency.!! He sold his soul for money !!
No Osama was not there in Abbottabad. This was a fake like 9/11. One bullet Mark in the building after the attack that night !! Then the so called Navy Seals who killed Osama, so to say, were all killed a few days later in a Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan !! Wow !!
How dumb and foolish can one be!!
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@Muhammad Yaqub:
Excellent comment. It is good to read something which is succinct, logical, and spells out accurately what undoubtedly happened before, during and after the Abbottabad incident. Further, mentioning 9/11 in a deprecating manner was a distinct touch. Good work
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@ Muhammad Yaqub: You make absolutely NO sense whatsoever! Please, learn how to read because you are mixing facts (some which are not true) and painting a conspiracy theory picture which isn’t even remotely true.
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@Peace On Earth:
Dear Peace On Earth,
There is a good chance that you are American, because you are rude. However, there is an opportunity for you to make good. I thought Muhammad Yaqub wrote an excellent and accurate article. His English is good and it is obvious that he can read very well. If you have any evidence that he cannot read, that he has his facts mixed up, and has presented untruths, perhaps you could explain just where he went wrong? .
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@Saleem:
I am sure that you are using US’ language in this regard and would you like to explain that do you have any solid and authentic evidences against Osama Bin Ladin for his involvement in the any terrorist attacks’ drama plotted by US’ officials?
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@Syed Ali Raza Abidi:
He was not hiding a killer of Muslims and Pakistanis in the army’s back yard. Learn to identify your friends from your enemies
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@A2Z:
What court. The man was not sentenced according to the law of the land. Of wait FATA laws supersede those of Pakistan in Peshawar. Sorry, carry on
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for once an example should be made
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@Faraz:
Yes sure. And he was sentenced based on a law that does not apply to Pakistan, by a court that has no legal jurisdiction in Pakistan and was not allowed a lawyer. Besides that all was good and propoer
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The good doctor was giving fake injections to children at the behest of a foreign government. People calling him a patriot forget that he was as clueless about who was in that compound as the rest of us. He was merely a pawn, a gun for hire. In justice, unlike Hollywood the end does not justify the means. Calling for his release is akin to saying that a criminal should be pardoned because he accidentally killed another criminal and hence saved the world. There is also a moral hazard involved here, the Pakistani state cannot allow its citizens to collaborate with foreign intelligence and get away with it. No country would ever allow that! Similar to the Pakistani government, the US justice department is meting out similar punishment (life imprisonment) to its own citizen Bradley Manning for exposing war crimes via Wikileaks.
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@Ahmad Khan:
Excellent article. You only got one thing wrong. You suggested the Pakistan justice system is similar to the American system. It is my view that the American system is much harsher than Pakistan’s, and has a total lack of moral values. One can only shudder at the thought of being tried in the American justice system.
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Some good points raised by Glenn Greenwald on this issue –
http://www.salon.com/2012/05/26/theimperialmind/
http://www.salon.com/2012/05/26/theimperialmind/
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i think he deserve that and i support that he should give info to pak army instead of americans …………………………….. he broken our trust and country’s pride ……………………………
he damage national intreasts bcoz if pak army had done abotabad operation that will be lot better…………………………. and the other thing concerning here is that he is spy and he should be treated as a spy ………….. so as far as i concern its very good …………………
HATE USA , HATE CIA ,HATE NATO…………..THEY ARE REAL TERRORISTS Recommend