PHC to decide Dr Shakil Afridi’s case

PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court (PHC) would now decide the fate of convict Dr Shakil Afridi as his review petition has been transferred to the court after the abolition of the Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR) and the Fata Tribunal.

Dr Shakil Afridi has been under detention since 2011 after the law-enforcing agencies took him into custody for allegedly helping the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in tracking down Osama bin Laden, the founder of the militant organization al-Qaeda.

Dr Shakil Afridi, a resident of Khyber tribal district, has been engaged in a legal battle since his conviction by an assistant political agent (APA) of the Bara tehsil in May 2012. He is undergoing 23 years prison term after being convicted on multiple charges of anti-state activities, including extending support to militant outfits.

Dr Shakil Afridi’s review petition is pending since June 2014. It was filed against the decision of the FCR Commissioner, who reduced his conviction from 33 to 23 years. The state appeal against the decision of the FCR Commissioner to cut his 10 years conviction would also be heard by the PHC.

Qamar Nadeem Afridi, counsel for Dr Shakil Afridi, confirmed to The News that like other review petitions the case of his client had also been transferred to the PHC.

“Hopefully, we will get a date for hearing of the review petition in a few days. The high court has started fixing [dates] of the review petitions transferred from the Fata Tribunal,” he said. He added that he had confirmed the transfer of the case with the registrar of the high court and got an assurance that this case would be fixed for hearing after Eidul holidays.

He pointed out that no proper hearing had been made in the review petition of Dr Shakil Afridi at the Fata Tribunalduring the last five years. Qamar Nadeem stated that the Fata Tribunal used to adjourn the case for months primarily due to unavailability of the case record. He said that when the political administration produced the record then the public prosecutor remained absent during the hearing of the case.

The family members and the legal team of Dr Shakil Afridi have pinned high hopes on the high court as unlike the forums that worked under the FCR the judges of the high court strictly look into the available evidence on record while deciding a case.

“There is no proper evidence on record against Dr Shakil Afridi,” Qamar Nadeem said. He added that senior lawyer Abdul Latif Afridi is heading the panel of lawyers of Dr Shakil Afridi. "I have tried several times to seek permission from the Punjab Home Department to meet Dr Shakil Afridi in the Sahiwal Prison, but the prison administration did not allow the meeting. This is illegal and injustice with my client," Qamar Nadeem maintained.