Osama doc Afridi files review petition for retrial, release on bail

Dr. Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped the U.S. find out slain al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden from his hideout in Abbottabad, has filed a petition in a Fata (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) tribunal court seeking release on bail, as well a fresh trial to defend himself against charges of supporting a banned organization.

Afridi challenged an earlier order of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) commissioner that he could not be released on bail till the conclusion of the case, claiming that he had been denied his legal rights to defend himself through a counsel and cross-examine witnesses, Dawn News reports.

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The petition demanded to revert back the case to the Khyber Agency's political agent to re-assess arguments of prosecution and defence under law and Rewaj (local custom), the report added.

Afridi has been under solitary confinement in the Peshawar Central Prison, since his conviction and sentencing.

According to the report, he challenged the order as he felt that it was vague and wanted clear directives to the political agent or the sessions judge.

Afridi was picked up by an intelligence agency in May 2011 on the suspicion of carrying out a fake polio vaccination campaign in Abbottabad to help the CIA to trace Laden from his hideout

However, he was not convicted on that charge.

An additional district magistrate convicted him on May 23, 2012 of being involved in anti-state activities and supporting the banned group Lashkar-i-Islam, sentencing him to a 33-year imprisonment term.