PESHAWAR: One of the lawyers for Dr Shakil Afridi convicted for links with a banned militant outfit on Saturday announced withdrawal from the case citing death threats and the US pressure.

Dr Shakil is suspected of helping the American CIA trace Osama bin Laden Samiullah Afridi, a lead counsel for Dr Shakil, told Dawn that he had been pursuing the case since May 2012 when his client was convicted by an assistant political agent for links with Bara-based banned Lashkar-i-Islam and had stood life threats from ‘certain’ quarters.

He, however, said he couldn’t put up with such threats anymore.

“Different persons have been frequently visiting me and threatening me with dire consequences if I continue offering legal assistance to Dr Shakil. Two days ago, two unidentified people saw him and said they were giving him the last warning,” he said.

The lawyer said he was earlier told (by unidentified people) that a magnet bomb would be attached to his vehicle, so he sold out his car and began using a rickshaw.

A panel of lawyers of which Mr Samiullah is the most active member has been representing Dr Shakil before different judicial forums under the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), including the Fata Tribunal and the FCR commissioner.

Noted among other lawyers for Dr Shakil are Abdul Lateef Afridi and Qamar Nadeem.

Mr Samiullah said he had been pleading Dr Shakil case on humanitarian grounds as he and his client belonged to the same tribal area.

He said he had insisting from the day one that it was the right of every individual to be defended before a court by a lawyer of choice and that nobody should be condemned unheard.

The lawyer said his entire family was disturbed due to involvement in the case and that he was under pressure from his family not to continue with the case.

He said another major reason for his quitting the case was that the US had been exerting undue pressure on Pakistan and the issue was raised several times in the US Congress.

Mr Samiullah said he was opposed to the judicial system provided under the FCR but he still had been trying his best to defend his client under the available legal provisions.

He said the US government wanted the Pakistani government to free Dr Shakil without following legal course of action.

Samiullah, who is known for pursuing cases of missing persons as well as those related to the FCR and is an active member of Fata Lawyers Forum, also cited the US refusal to free Dr Afia Siddiqui for his withdrawal from the case.

“On one hand, the US government has been demanding the release of Dr Shakil but on the order, it has not been releasing Dr Afia,” he said.

In December last year, Mr Samiullah had gone abroad for few weeks when certain people allegedly chased him on regular basis and gave him death threats.

Dr Shakil, who was arrested in May 2011 for carrying out a fake vaccination campaign for helping the American CIA trace Osama bin Laden, was convicted in May 2012 by the assistant political agent of Bara and was handed down 33 years imprisonment and Rs320,000 fine on different counts.

After a long legal battle as the case was shuttling between different forums, the FCR commissioner had upheld his conviction on March 15, 2014 but reduced Dr Shakil’s sentence to 23 years and fined him Rs220,000.

He had also directed the political agent of Khyber Agency to prepare a case against him for involvement in anti-state activities in collusion with foreign intelligence agencies for trial.

Under the FCR, the commissioner’s verdict could be challenged before the three-member Fata tribunal within 90 days of its announcement by filing a revision petition.

Until now, no revision petition has been filed on behalf of Dr Shakil before the tribunal.

When contacted, Qamar Nadeem, another lawyer for Dr Shakil, said the panel of lawyers defending the doctor had been in consultation on when to file the review petition and on what grounds.