Pakistan 'CIA doctor' appeals conviction

2012-06-01 14:14

Peshawar - Lawyers representing the Pakistani doctor jailed after helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden appealed against his conviction on Friday.

Shakeel Afridi was on 23 May sentenced to 33 years in jail under Pakistan's archaic system of tribal justice, worsening Pakistan's already precarious relationship with the United States.

He was arrested after US troops killed Bin Laden in May 2011 in the town of Abbottabad, where he set up a fake vaccination programme in the hope of obtaining DNA samples to identify the al-Qaeda leader.

But he was convicted for treason over alleged ties to militant group Lashkar-e-Islam and not for working for the CIA, for which the court said it did not have jurisdiction.

The appeal, filed by his brother Jamil Afridi through lawyers, said the allegations were "false, concocted and without foundation".

It said Afridi had "no association" with Lashkar-e-Islam and said the conviction should be dismissed because he had no opportunity of defence or fair trial, said a copy obtained by AFP.

Fined by militants

Lashkar-e-Islam, led by warlord Mangal Bagh, is widely feared for kidnappings and extortion in the tribal district of Khyber, where Afridi worked for years.

The appeal said Afridi was kidnapped by Lashkar-e-Islam in 2008 and ordered to pay one million rupees $10 660.

The court said Afridi paid about $21 320 to the faction and helped to provide medical assistance to militant commanders in Khyber.

The militants have denied any links to Afridi, saying they fined him for over-charging patients, and have threatened to kill him.

The Peace Movement, a civil society group that has taken up Afridi's case, said the appeal was filed to the commissioner of the north-western city of Peshawar, who hears appeals against judgements meted out under Pakistan's tribal justice system.

- SAPA