PESHAWAR: The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) Tribunal on Wednesday rejected the appeal of Dr Shakil Afridi, who helped the CIA track down former Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, and sent the case back to commissioner FCR (Frontier Crime Regulations).
In its judgment‚ the tribunal said the commissioner FCR’s decision on Dr Shakil Afridi case was unambiguous, as it failed to mention whether the trial of the case would be conducted by the session judge or political administration.
The tribunal directed the commissioner FCR to review his verdict in Dr Shakil Afridi case and remove ambiguities in it.
It is to mention here that the commissioner FCR had overruled the judgment of the political agent‚ who had awarded the sentence to Dr Shakil Afridi.
Dr Shakil Afridi, a former agency surgeon of Khyber Agency, is in solitary confinement in the Peshawar Central Prison since his conviction and sentencing.
The personnel of an intelligence agency allegedly picked him up in May 2011 on suspicion of helping the CIA trace Osama bin Laden by carrying out a fake vaccination campaign in Abbottabad. However, he was not convicted on that charge.
A tribal court had convicted Dr Shakil Afridi and sentenced him to 33 years last year in May of being involved in anti-state activities and supporting the Bara-based Lashkar-i-Islam. Later, a judicial official overturned the 33-year jail sentence in August this year.
