Pak doctor who helped US trace Laden, to be released soon: Lawyer

May 01, 2018 17:57

Dr Shakil Afridi, a Pakistani doctor serving a 33-year jail term for helping the CIA in tracking down al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden to Abbottabad in 2011 could be released this month after authorities remitted 10 years of his sentence, according to his lawyer.

The United States has been pressing Pakistan to release Dr Afridi, who was involved in a CIA-linked plan to find bin Laden with a fake vaccination operation in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad.

Advocate Qamar Nadeem told the BBC Urdu service that Afridi, who has received several remissions in sentence, will complete his jail term this month.

He said that Afridi was awarded a total of 33 years jail term on four different charges in which he was awarded 30 years on three counts while three years on one. However, after an approval of his appeal, 10 years of imprisonment had been remitted, the Express Tribune reported.

According to Nadeem, if Afridi's total jail term and remissions are taken into consideration, then he is likely to be freed this month.

Afridi, 56, was shifted to Adiala Jail of Rawalpindi from Peshawar central jail on Friday, apparently due to security concerns.

According to media reports, he was moved in a helicopter but no official statement was issued by the government.

However, it is still not clear as to whether he will be kept in Adiala jail or shifted to another location, the report said.

There is a chance that after his release, Afridi might move to the US to settle there permanently, it said.

A team of expert doctors has reportedly examined him in Adiala jail and declared him completely fit.

According to jail sources, he has been kept under strict security measures and additional guards have been posted at his barracks, it said.

Afridi, the former surgeon of Khyber Agency, had run a false vaccination campaign in the Pakistani garrison city of Abbottabad to help the CIA track down bin Laden in his compound and kill him in a raid by US Navy Seals on May 2, 2011. -- PTI

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