PESHAWAR-
The Commissioner of Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) on Captain retd. Munir Azam Saturday reduced by 10 years the sentence of Dr. Shakil Afridi from 33 to 23 years for having contacts with outlawed group.
Shakeel Afridi was convicted of treason under the country´s tribal justice system for alleged ties to Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) and its chief Mangal Bagh and was jailed for 33 years in May 2012.
Authorities set aside the sentence in August last year on appeal and ordered a retrial, but now a tribunal has agreed to cut a decade off his jail term.
“The tribunal has reduced the 33-year imprisonment to 23 years and also reduced the fine of 320,000 rupees (3,200 dollars) to 220,000 rupees,” defence lawyer Samiullah Afridi told a foreign news agency.
Afridi said that he would appeal against the decision as he wanted to have a new trial, as stipulated by the authorities last August.
“We will appeal against this decision, because it is unjust,” Afridi said.
Jamil Afridi, the brother of the jailed doctor added: “We wanted to have a fresh trial, but the court just ruled on one point and reduced the sentence by 10 years. We will file an appeal against this decision,” Afridi told the news agency,
Lawyers for the doctor had challenged the August ruling, made by the commissioner of the northwestern city of Peshawar, in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Tribunal.
Afridi was also alleged to helped the CIA by running a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad to locate al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, a month before the US forces raid on a compound that killed Bin Laden in 2011.
The tribal court had not entertained evidence relating to Dr Shakil Afridi’s involvement with the CIA due to lack of jurisdiction.