Dr Shakil barred from meeting relatives

Brother says he was sent back by prison authorities.

PESHAWAR:

Authorities of the Peshawar Central Jail have barred Dr Shakil Afridi from meeting visitors, including relatives and lawyers.

Afridi’s brother Jamil visited the prison along with one of his counsels, Qamar Nadeem Afridi, but the jail’s administration did not allow them to meet him, Jamil told The Express Tribune.

“Earlier, we were allowed to meet Shakil once a month, but this time officials said the government has barred him from meeting anyone.”

He added they would meet Shakil to inquire about his health and discuss his ongoing case, but a recent interview had complicated the issue. “Yes, we were expecting it following his interview aired by Fox News.”

Shakil’s counsels had earlier denied he had given the interview.

Dr Shakil Afridi has been accused of carrying out a fake anti-polio campaign in order to get DNA samples of al Qaeda kingpin Osama bin Laden. Pakistan maintains the doctor helped the Central Intelligence Agency track down Bin Laden who was killed during a raid by US Navy SEALs on his Abbottabad compound in May last year.

Shakil’s family has so far managed to meet him only four times since he was sentenced. He met his two sisters, for the first time since his arrest, on August 28.

Shakil has filed an appeal against his conviction at the office of commissioner Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR).

The first hearing took place on June 21, followed by another on July 19. However, the hearing scheduled for August 30 was adjourned till September 27 (today) due to the absence of FCR Commissioner Tariq Jamil.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 27^th, 2012.