Pakistan's insistent denials that it had nothing to do, or had any information on the whereabouts of O. bin Laden fall flat as one follows the trial of the Pakistani doctor who was instrumental in guiding CIA operatives to bin Laden's location. He has instead been charged with colluding with a militant outfit called Lashkar-i-Islam. Interestingly enough, his indictment did not cite or use any evidence of his collaboration with the CIA.
Although the vaccination programs directors who were involved in the operation have been widely criticized for using the program to find the wanted terrorist, the Pakistani doctor did act of his own volition. He was the one who set up the fake vaccination program to lure locals and obtain the necessary information to confirm the presence of bin Laden in the area. It was through collection of DNA of the vaccinated children that the terrorist chief's presence was confirmed without a doubt.
The Pakistani government however, not content with claiming that the US had violated Pakistani sovereignty, although it allows drone strikes in its territory, has already sentenced the doctor to 33 years in jail for his part in the operation that ultimately resulted in the terrorist's capture and death, even though it has not indicted him for that offense.
Shakeel Afridi's sentence however has been overturned by the Commissioner of Peshawar. The retrial has been ordered by the Commissioner. The Commissioner has decided that the previous judge had overstepped his authority when he condemned Afridi to the 33 year imprisonment term.
The case has been sent back to the Political Agent of Khyber agency. The political agent in the previous trial acted as a magistrate, although he is not allowed to do so by law. The political agent acted as representative of the autonomous tribes area in which bin Laden lived. Those areas are still under semi-autonomous rule that employs laws that harken back to colonial times. That body of law is called the Federal Crime Regulation.
Afridi's sentence caused the withdrawal of 33 million dollars in aid to Pakistan. However, Afridi is not free on his own recognizance pending the re-trial. He is being held in Peshawar central jail indefinitely.
Source : Dawn/France24/ 8.29.13
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