PESHAWAR: The Federally Administered Tribal Areas tribunal on Thursday adjourned until Jan 2 without any progress the hearing into a petition of Dr Shakil Afridi against the upholding of his conviction by an appellate forum for having links with banned militant outfits.

The tribunal, which is the third and final judicial forum available under the Frontier Crimes Regulation, and consists of chairman Sange Marjan Khan and members Hussainzada Khan and Atif Nazir, decided to adjourn the hearing as the state prosecutor did not turn up once again to contest the case.

Qamar Nadeem Afridi, lawyer for Dr Shakil, told Dawn that nobody appeared on behalf of the government before the tribunal and therefore, no progress took place in the case.

On Mar 15, 2014, the FCR commissioner, the appellate forum under the FCR, had upheld the conviction of Dr Shakil for having links to a banned militant organisation of Bara tehsil in Khyber Agency but reduced his original prison term slapped by the assistant political agent’s court from 33 years to 23 years and that of the Rs320,000 fine to Rs220,000.

State prosecutor continues to absent himself from hearing

In the present review petition, Dr Shakil has challenged the decision of the commissioner. The petition has been pending with the tribunal for over two years without noteworthy progress.

The tribunal also adjourned hearing into a petition of the administration of Khyber Agency against the reduction of Dr Shakil’s sentence by the commissioner.

Dr Shakil was taken into custody in May 2011 by intelligence agencies on the suspicion of arranging a fake vaccination campaign at the behest of American CIA in Abbottabad for tracing Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

However, he was not convicted by the trial court on that charge.

The assistant political agent, who is also the additional district magistrate of Bara tehsil in Khyber agency, convicted him on May 23, 2012, for involvement in anti-state activities by supporting the Bara-based Lashkar-i-Islam and sentenced him on different counts to a total of 33-year imprisonment with the fine of Rs320,000.

Petitioner Dr Shakil claimed that he was denied the right to fair trial and was convicted by the assistant political agent on ‘flimsy grounds’.

The petitioner contended that the FCR commissioner had ignored several facts while upholding his conviction.

He said earlier, the case was sent back to the commissioner by the tribunal for clarifying certain points but instead of clarifying the points, the commissioner upheld the decision of the APA.

Former deputy attorney general for Pakistan Mohammad Khursheed Khan has also filed a petition seeking the high court’s directions for the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government not to send Dr Shakil abroad until the final disposal of the plea.

He prayed the court to issue directives to the government that if Dr Shakil was to be sent abroad, prior permission should be sought from the high court for that.

The petitioner said Dr Shakil should not be shifted from the Peshawar Central Prison to any other jail in the province or somewhere else.

He feared that the government might hand over Dr Shakil to the US.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2017