ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office said on Friday that Dr Shakil Afridi was being dealt with according to the law and that Pakistan expected other countries to respect its legal process.
Dr Afridi had been detained by the Pakistani government for his involvement in providing vital help to the United States in finding Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad.
"He is being dealt with in accordance with our law. We expect all to respect our legal process, and refrain from making groundless insinuations and drawing premature conclusions," Foreign Officer spokesperson Abdul Basit told APP.
Media reports had earlier said that Dr Afridi had organized a polio vaccination campaign in the city for the Central Intelligence Agency, in order to collect DNA sample to prove that the al Qaeda leader was present in the Abbottabad compound.
A United States (US) Congressman has also submitted a bill to the House of Representatives asking that the doctor be granted US citizenship. Senator Dana Rohrabacher, who had also submitted the controversial resolution in the US House of Representatives, had also asked President Barack Obama to ‘personally intercede’ in the case of Shakil Afridi after media reports stated that his assets had been seized by the Pakistani government.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, while addressing the House Foreign Affairs Committee, had also stressed that there was no basis on Pakistan’s part to hold Dr Shakil Afridi behind bars.
COMMENTS (17)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
It appears that most of the people making comments have forgotten about Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and the appalling treatment she has received in America. No charges were laid against her, but she was tortured for several years by the Americans at Bagram, turned up in court in a wheel chair, battered and bleeding, and sentenced to 60 years in prison on a trumped up charge of attacking her torturer. Moving on to Dr. Shakil Afridi he used his position as a trusted medical practitioner to move around Pakistan whilst colluding with the spy agency of a foreign power, and doing so with a view to working against the best interests of Pakistan. When I was a little younger Governments used to summarily execute people caught spying for a foreign power, which is what he appears to have been doing. However, so far, the good doctor has from what I can gather been quite rightly charged with treason and will go to trial, which is reasonable. If the government allowed so called respectable people to go around the country, spying for foreign powers there would be a complete lack of security. We will now have to wait and see if Dr. Shakil Afridi is beaten to a pulp and then sentenced to 60 years in prison the way Dr. Aafi Siddiqui has been. I don't think we will ever know the full story of the Osama Bin Laden affair in Abbatobad, but it does appear that Dr. Shakil Afridi immersed himself quite stupidly in high level espionage, and will now have to face the consequences. Perhaps eventually, Pakistan and America may work out a prisoner exchange between the two Doctors.
@DB: Oh dishonoring the medical profession for sure. Free vaccines for the poor while simultaneously helping to get rid of a man who would murder anyone, including you, without a second thought simply because of your place of residence. How dishonorable.
@Jat: The law against misusing NGOs, working for foreign agencies and dishonouring the medical profession.
Dealt with according to the law of jungle?
Let's assume that the ISI and other Pakistani Agencies didn't know about OBL's presence here in the Pakistan. Afridi must have told the Pakistani Authorities about the OBL presence there in Abottabad........
Foreign Officer, can you please tell what are the chrege(s) laid on him?.
Why can't Foreign Office just stay quiet for now----what's the point in this good for nothing posturing-----we'll let the man go in accordance with the wishes of our best friends. By the way, hasn't this good man Afridi helped us by helping the US to get rid of that enemy of Pakistan and our way of life. I'm glad that at least one threat is less, and hope that rest will also be taken care of, sooner or later with the help of courageous people like this guy Afridi.
What law ? First let us know under what law was world's most wanted terrorist given residency in a military town. What law ?
WHAT LAW ?
Heroes should be treated better. Pakistan needs to understand that Osama bin Laden was the enemy of humanity, and Dr. Afridi is the friend of humanity.
If they feel compelled to clarify on his condition, Mark my word he will be handed over to US.Which is not bad, he did what whole PakMil was doing: Looking for worlds most wanted terrorist.
Dealing legally with the issue of Dr. Shakil is the correct approach. However, Pakistani law enforcement and intelligence agencies are not skilled enough to deal with the issue competently. So we can safely assume that there will be a lack of due process, violations of rights of Dr. Shakil and his other associates (they retain their rights even if they committed deeds considered treason by Pakistani public) and eventually a failure of prosecution in the courts and movement of Dr. Shakil to USA.
This will further add to feeling of frustration and haplessness of the general public and further resort to illegal practices by law enforcement and intelligence agencies against other alleged criminals and traitors; a vicious cycle.
lol his photo is against the banner of fake polio campaign