Delaying verdict: Dr Shakil Afridi case hearing adjourned

PESHAWAR: A court of the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR) Commissioner has adjourned Dr Shakil Afridi’s case hearing until October 25. The case was adjourned due to the absence of senior counsel Abdul Latif Afridi. The last case hearing on August 30 was adjourned due to absence of the FCR commissioner, and two other case hearings scheduled on June 21 and July 19 had also been adjourned due to lack of case records. Dr Afridi had been sentenced to a 33-year imprisonment by a tribal court for allegedly helping Lashkar-e-Islam (LI). However, he is also suspected to have aided in tracing the bloodline of Osama Bin Laden through a polio campaign. A panel of counsels has been contesting his case voluntarily as he had not been provided a defence counsel during his trial at the tribal court. The FCR commissioner is yet to decide the case, although under the law, cases must be decided in 60 days.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 28^th, 2012.