Dr Shakeel’s trial: Case adjourns again due to absence of prosecutor

Tribunal orders prosecutor to appear at next date of hearing on Jan 2, 2018

PESHAWAR: After the public prosecutor once again failed to appear before it, a tribunal on Thursday adjourned case of Dr Shakeel Afridi till January 2 next year, while ordering the prosecutor to make sure his presence at the next hearing,

As the three-member bench of the Fata tribunal – chaired by Sakhi Marjan and including Hafiz Nazir and Hassan Zada – resumed hearing of the case, it was informed that the case could not be proceeded due to absence of the public prosecutor.



In the previous hearing some months back, the tribunal – formed to hear cases related to residents of tribal areas – had asked for the government’s view on detention of Dr Afridi.

A political agent of the Khyber Agency in 2012 awarded Dr Afridi 33-year imprisonment for his links with a militant group. Shakeel’s family had later challenged the sentence before the tribunal.

Dr Afridi was apparently part of the CIA’s fake vaccination campaign that led to the May 2011 US Navy Seals raid at al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden’s alleged compound in Abbottabad.



Talking to The Express Tribune via telephone, Shakeel’s counsel Qamar Nadeem Afridi said since June 2014, the court has issued several notices and reminders to the public prosecutor to make sure his presence in the court, but public prosecutor has not appeared so far.

“The case will proceed if the public prosecutor appears before the tribunal. We have filed an application for abolition of Shakeel’s sentence while the political agent of Khyber Agency has asked the tribunal to review their decision of slashing the 33-yar sentence. However, due to non-professional attitude to the PP, my client suffers the most,” he said.