Doctor who helped find bin Laden jailed for treason

Doctor who helped find bin Laden jailed for treason

From Reza Sayah, CNN

May 23, 2012 -- Updated 1439 GMT (2239 HKT)

Shakeel Afridi was accused of helping the CIA track down Osama bin Laden.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: A legal analyst calls the sentence a sham
• Shakeel Afridi was accused of helping collect DNA from Osama bin Laden's compound
• He was sentenced by a tribal court
• It was unclear how the sentencing would affect a Pakistani government probe

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- A Pakistani doctor accused of helping the CIA track down Osama bin Laden was sentenced Wednesday to 33 years in prison for treason, officials told CNN.

Shakeel Afridi was also fined $ 3,500 for spying for the United States, said Nasir Khan, a Khyber Agency official, and Fazal Mehmood, an official from the tribal court that handed down the sentence.

The court heard the case against Afridi for two months. The doctor was not afforded a chance to defend himself, which is in accordance with the laws of the tribal justice system, the two officials said.

Afridi was present at the sentencing and was sent to the central jail in nearby Peshawar.

Afridi helped the CIA use a vaccination campaign in an attempt to collect DNA samples from residents of bin Laden's compound in the city of Abbottabad to verify the al Qaeda leader's presence there.

Bin Laden was killed in the subsequent U.S. raid on the compound in May last year.

Pakistan fires doctor who helped CIA to hunt bin Laden

At least one legal analyst said Afridi's sentence was a sham.

Islamabad-based lawyer Shahzad Akbar said the punishment was handed down by a tribal court in Khyber even though the alleged offense occurred in Abbottabad, which raises questions about the legitimacy of the proceedings.

"This judgment won't last," Akbar told CNN. "If this punishment is challenged by Dr. Afridi's family in the Superior Court of Pakistan, there is a good possibility that the sentence will be turned around."

Human rights groups have often accused tribal courts of violating the fair trial process guaranteed under Pakistan's constitution.

Akbar said the Afridi ruling could be a move by the government to save face without making a spectacle out of a sensitive situation.

In a federal court, the government would have had to produce evidence and Afridi would have the right to defend himself.

"There is ample case law that says this process is cheating against the laws and constitution of Pakistan," Akbar said.

Afridi can appeal the sentence, said Tariq Hayat Khan, a senior official in the tribal region.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has acknowledged Afridi's role in bin Laden's discovery and has said he ought to be released.

"This was an individual who in fact helped provide intelligence that was very helpful with regards to this operation," Panetta told CBS in January. "And he was not in any way treasonous towards Pakistan."

Afridi was charged under the Frontier Crimes Regulation, British-era laws that govern Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal region and do not carry the death penalty.

In October, a Pakistani commission recommended treason charges be filed against Afridi. A federal investigation is ongoing, according to a government official close to the investigation who is not authorized to speak to the media.

The official was not clear on how Wednesday's sentencing would affect the federal case.

CNN.com