Doctor who aided hunt for bin Laden languishes, forgottenBy KATHY GANNON Today
https://www.apnews.com/bfafcd6f68ea4c5f91c89bda94552499/Doctor-who-aided-hunt-for-bin-Laden-languishes,-forgotten
FILE - In this July 9, 2010 file photo, Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi is photographed in the Jamrud tribal area, Khyber region of Pakistan. Afridi who reportedly used a vaccination scam to identify Osama bin Laden’s home, has been languishing in jail since the al-Qaida leader was killed by U.S. Navy Seals in 2011 -- his case a metaphor for downward spiraling relations between his country and the U.S. (AP Photo/Qazi Rauf, File)PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Shakil Afridi has languished in jail for years — since 2011, when the Pakistani doctor used a vaccination scam in an attempt to identify Osama bin Laden’s home, aiding U.S. Navy Seals who tracked and killed the al-Qaida leader.
Americans might wonder how Pakistan could imprison a man who helped track down the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks. Pakistanis are apt to ask a different question: how could the United States betray its trust and cheapen its sovereignty with a secret nighttime raid that shamed the military and its intelligence agencies?
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The U.S. believes its financial support entitles it to Pakistan’s backing in its efforts to defeat the Taliban — as a candidate, Donald Trump pledged to free Afridi, telling Fox News in April 2016 he would get him out of prison in “two minutes. ... Because we give a lot of aid to Pakistan.†[...]
Afridi used a fake hepatitis vaccination program to try to get DNA samples from bin Laden’s family as a means of pinpointing his location. But he has not been charged in connection with the bin Laden operation.
He was accused under tribal law alleging he aided and facilitated militants in the nearby Khyber tribal region, said Nadeem. Even the Taliban scoffed at the charge that was filed to make use of Pakistan’s antiquated tribal system, which allows closed courts, does not require the defendant to be present in court, and limits the number of appeals, he said.
If charged with treason — which Pakistani authorities say he committed — Afridi would have the right to public hearings and numerous appeals all the way to the Supreme Court, where the details of the bin Laden raid could be laid bare, something neither the civilian nor military establishments want, his lawyer said.
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