Dr Shakil Afridi languishes in prison as appeal lingers
Shakil Afridi was in 2012 found guilty by a tribal court of having ties to militants.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Sept 10, 2015 (AFP) - The lawyer for Dr Shakil Afridi who was jailed after helping the CIA find Osama bin Laden accused the government Thursday of deliberately delaying his appeal after the case was adjourned for the sixteenth time.
Shakil Afridi, who ran a fake hepatitis vaccination programme as cover for an operation to find the 9/11 mastermind, was in 2012 found guilty by a tribal court of having ties to militants and jailed for 33 years.
Last year a tribunal cut 10 years off his sentence, but he filed an appeal in March seeking bail and a fresh trial.
But Afridi s lawyer, Qamar Nadeem Afridi, said that since March, 16 sessions had passed without any proceedings because the administration of Khyber tribal district had failed to submit documents for the case to the tribunal.
"Yesterday (Wednesday) the judge again asked for the record and the Khyber administration did not submit it," Qamar Afridi, adding that a new hearing had now been set for October 16.
In his appeal Shakil Afridi had asked the tribunal to review the entire case and acquit him or grant him bail until it was heard.
"We are of the view that either Khyber administration is using delaying tactics so that Dr Afridi continues to languish in prison or they have lost the record," his lawyer said.
An official of the Khyber administration told AFP on condition of anonymity that for some "legal complications" they could not submit the case file, but now it would be done as soon as possible.
