Shakil Afridi case: Commissioner FCR reduces sentence by 10 years

Zahir Shah Sherazi Published March 15, 2014

PESHAWAR: The Commissioner of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) Captain retd Munir Azam, while announcing judgment in the Dr Shakil Afridi detention case on Saturday, reduced his conviction by 10 years and also reduced the fine by Rs 1 million.

Earlier, Afridi’s lawyers had appealed to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) tribunal for removal of the sentence which was then submitted to the Commissioner FCR for review.

The Commissioner FCR, who is the Commissioner of Peshawar Division, upheld the old judgment but removed one Clause 123 A and reviewed the jail term and the fine.

On the occasion, the accused’s counsel Samiullah Afridi said the decision was unexpected and that they would appeal against it in the Fata tribunal.

Dr Shakil’s lawyer added that they had not demanded a review of the verdict but that they wanted a fresh trial in the case.

Afridi had allegedly helped the CIA by running a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad a month before the US forces raid on a compound that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.

He was sentenced to 33 years in prison and fined Rs320,000 on charges of colluding with Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) and its chief Mangal Bagh in 2012.

However, the tribal court had not entertained evidence relating to Dr Shakil Afridi’s involvement with the CIA, citing lack of jurisdiction.

His sentence was overturned last year in August and a retrial was ordered.

Pakistan

Judgment in Dr Shakil Afridi case reserved for March 15

Tribunal resends Shakil Afridi’s case for review

rashad

Mar 15, 2014 01:32pm

the guy who should be hanged is being given a reduction in his sentencing. the person who is a national hero and fought and bled for his country is being called a traitor and the sell out govt wnats him hanged. Such is the power of saudi dollars.

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nadeem

Mar 15, 2014 02:28pm

Can any body tell me what wrong this man has done if he helped catch the most wanted terrorist?

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Khanm

Mar 15, 2014 03:12pm

very soon you will be set free... mark my words... it is just a matter of time...

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Dr.M.m.Khan

Mar 15, 2014 04:23pm

Of course he is going to be released and flown to USA where an american citizenship awaits him. His case has been taken up at the senate level. I will not be surprised if President Obama meets him in private capacity. Just after the raid on the OBL residence the Dr. was told to make his way to afghanistan from where he would have flown to US but he foolishly did not do so. Whether he was a traitor or loyal to pakistan it is for the history to decide! These facts can be corroborated!

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Irfan Khan

Mar 15, 2014 06:31pm

Sir G its not One Million its only One lac rupees. Intro main one million rupees main kami ka likha hai ar neechy fine 3 lac 20 thousand likha hai.. KIYA YE KHULA TAZAD NAHE..

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Akbar Mohdi

Mar 15, 2014 06:46pm

@nadeem From a legal point of perspective, his initial crime is aiding/assisting of a plan/plot/scheme to use Pakistani soil by a foreigner/foreign nation to stage a covert operation for the exchange of money. His subsequent crime is that he has put the entire nation's polio drive in the cross hairs of militants which has resulted in the deaths of a lot of workers, the police who are in charge of protectiong them and the children who will have to live with this virus.,

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Youth

Mar 15, 2014 07:00pm

@ nadeem This man has has stabbed from behind the confidence of the peoples towards polio campaign. After the unearthing of the false polio campaign peoples have some what stopped administering polio drops to their children. This doctor was running a parallel intelligence system which is a crime against the country. Reducing his sentence to 10 years shows the weakness of the elected gov't. If justice is impregnated like this then I really feel the peoples will take justice & punishment in their own hand which will be bad for the country. You need to stand somewhere. Regarding Dr. Afia's case the gov't is deaf & dum . This poor women is un-necessarily under detention, the gov't is silently dead about it, SHAME

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gabriel

Mar 15, 2014 07:13pm

The rest of the world sees Dr. Afridi and sees a brave man who knowingly or unknowingly helped rid the world of Bin Laden. The fact that Pakistan saw fit to imprison Afridi suggests that Pakistani society and state have warm and tender feelings toward a cowardly terrorist. If Bin laden attained "martyrdom" it is at the costly expense of the reputation of Islam, and of Pakistan - significant sections of which harbors great regret that they could not provide safe harbor to Shaheed Osama - rather than be rid of him. Hence the persecution of Afridi.

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gangadin

Mar 15, 2014 08:11pm

Is he in jail? This may just be a drama. I doubt that he is in jail. Please don't ask me for proof. Take a camera and investigate yourself.

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NHM

Mar 15, 2014 08:29pm

Our Supreme Court along with all the kangaroo courts and the PM, the senate and the Parliment do not have the guts to challenge this ruling. Having said that , I do agree that Afridi has played his minor role to locate the whereabouts of an internationally wanted man

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unbelievable

Mar 16, 2014 12:15am

If your embarrassed that OBL was killed within spitting distance of the vaunted Pakistan Military Academy - tough! How about finding the people who were helping OBL? Afridi deserves a legitimate trial where he is represented by an attorney and charged with whatever alleged bona fide crimes you actually think he committed. Putting this man in jail for helping terrorist is pathetic and just reinforces Pakistan international reputation for being Jihad Central.

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Akbar Mohdi

Mar 16, 2014 08:23am

@unbelievable I believe you meant to say helping catch terrorists as opposed to helping terrorists (because that means he deserves to be in jail) @gabriel I don't think anyone here is arguing about the merits of his actions in helping to catch Osama. However the issue is that he did so under the guise of a vaccination campaign in a province where the local populace was already apprehensive about such programs. Even if they do not charge him for aiding another country, he should be kept in jail for the murders of polio workers as a direct result of his actions. To the world it may seem that the ends justified the means but its a different story from the perspective of a normal Pakistani. Lastly i'm not entirely certain about what he was offered in exchange for his services but If he did it for money, then i don't see the logic about whether he did the right thing. I would also like to point out that its a very small portion of the population who are "pro" taliban. If you look at most of the Pakistani news websites, you will see that a majority of commentators / posters oppose terrorism and terrorists very openly. The issue here is that it isn't as glamorous or news worthy as a few people shouting slogans in support of the Taliban.

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Uncle Sargam

Mar 16, 2014 10:01am

nadeem "Can any body tell me what wrong this man has done if he helped catch the most wanted terrorist?" I will tell you what he has done wrong. Being a healthcare professional, a Doctor in particular, is highly ethical career and he practiced something very unethical. He conducted a FAKE vaccination drive in return for taking plenty of money from a foreign government. Because of his greedy and sellout behavior, the radicals have been murdering healthcare worker claiming the vaccination is being done by CIA. He started this non-sense and now he has to face to consequences,

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