PESHAWAR, May 25: Some civil society members and lawyers on Friday announced to extend legal assistance to a Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi convicted by the assistant political agent (APA) of Bara tehsil for helping Central Intelligence Agency find Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, for filing an appeal against the sentence with the relevant forum.

Idrees Kamal, a member of Amn Tehrik, an umbrella organisation of scores of civil society members, and some Fata Lawyers Forum members told reporters at the Peshawar high court that they had sent a power of attorney (wakalatnama) to the Peshawar Central Prison so that it could be signed by Dr Afridi kept there in solitary confinement.

Dr Afridi was found guilty on four counts under different sections of Pakistan Penal Code on May 23 by a council of elders (jirga) in the trial conducted under the Frontier Crimes Regulations (FCR). The APA of Bara tehsil, Khyber Agency, sentenced Dr Afridi to 33 years in prison and a fine of Rs320,000.

“We believe that Dr Afridi has done nothing wrong as Osama bin Laden was not a resident of Pakistan and under several resolutions of the United Nations, he was a terrorist,” said Mr Kamal.

He added that in the past, several rulers had assisted the US and handed them over scores of persons, but no action was taken against them and then why Dr Afridi had been penalised.

He said key members of Fata Lawyers Forum, Ijaz Khan Mohmand, Samiullah Afridi, Raza Khan Safi and Qamar Nadeem Afridi, had agreed to file appeal on behalf of Dr Afridi against his conviction once he signed the power of attorney. He added that the forum had also applied to the APA Bara so as to acquire a copy of his verdict and other relevant documents including evidence on record, the names of the council of elders, etc.

“We have agreed to the request made by members of Amn Tehrik and will pursue the case of Dr Afridi in individual capacity,” said Advocate Ijaz Khan Mohmand, convener of the forum. He said they believe that the trial of Dr Afridi suffered from several lacunas.

Mr Mohmand said under the FCR, appeal against the judgment of the APA had to be filed with the FCR commissioner. In present case, the commissioner of Peshawar has been delegated powers of the FCR commissioner.

When asked if Amn Tehreek was approached by any member of Dr Afridi’s family, Mr Kamal said hos organisation had taken the step on its own as the doctor’s family had been in hiding since he was taken into custody in May last year by security agencies.

He said Dr Afridi had not violated any Pakistani law as Osama bin Laden was not a Pakistani and the government had categorically stated that he was not lodged in Abbottabad by the government.

Meanwhile, an official of the Peshawar central prison told Dawn that Dr Afridi had been kept in solitary confinement for security reasons.

He said barracks of the activists of proscribed organisations were away from the cell of Dr Afridi.

The APA pronouncement that the prison terms will run consecutively suggests that Dr Afridi will have to spend 33 years behind