Peshawar High Court allows family visits for Dr Shakil Afridi

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court directed on Wednesday the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to allow Dr Shakil Afridi’s relatives to meet him as per the law.

A two-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Mazhar Alam Miankhel and Justice Muhammad Daud Khan issued the order allowing Afridi’s siblings to meet him.

The decision came during the hearing of a petition filed by Jamil Afridi, Afridi’s brother. The family requested the court to direct the prison authorities to allow them family to meet their brother.

Read: Dr Shakil Afridi thrown to the wolves: lawyer

Abdul Latif Afridi, Jamil Afridi’s counsel, told the court that Afridi’s siblings have not allowed to meet him since June 24, 2013. However, under the law, the family can meet any member in jail within 15 days.

Read: Fresh legal turmoil for Dr Shakil Afridi

Shakeel Afridi was jailed for 33 years in May 2012 after he was convicted of ties to militants, though some US lawmakers said the case was revenge for Afridi helping in the search for the al Qaeda chief.

Afridi was convicted under Pakistan’s tribal justice system and last year a tribunal cut 10 years off his sentence.

Read: US congress pushes for Dr Shakil Afridi’s release

But his efforts to clear his name on appeal have been hit by long delays and adjournments and suffered another blow when the tribunal hearing his appeal was dissolved in March this year.