SKIP TO MAIN CONTENT

Doctor who helped find Osama charged

Samiullah Afridi, recruited by the CIA to run fake vaccinations in the hope of obtaining DNA to identify Osama bin Laden, has been charged in Pakistan.

3 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP


Skip to article content

Authorities in northwest Pakistan have charged the doctor who helped the CIA find Osama bin Laden with murder and fraud.

"A murder and fraud case was registered against Shakeel Afridi this week after a tribal woman accused him of killing her son," a senior government official in Peshawar said.

Afridi's lawyer Samiullah Afridi confirmed the charges, which come some three months after his conviction for treason was overturned.

Afridi was recruited by the CIA to run a fake vaccination program in Abbottabad in the hope of obtaining DNA samples to identify bin Laden, although medics never managed to gain access to the family.

The doctor was arrested after US troops killed bin Laden in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad in May 2011.

News that makes sense

Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Islamabad branded the raid a violation of sovereignty, and Pakistan's relations with the US fell to an all-time low.

In 2012 Afridi was convicted of treason over alleged links to militant group Lashkar-e-Islam, under the tribal justice system of his home district of Khyber.

He was sentenced to 33 years in jail and fined $3500.

Angry US politicians viewed the sentence as retaliation for his role in bin Laden's capture, and last year threatened to freeze millions of dollars in vital aid to Islamabad.

In August, his sentence was overturned and he now faces a retrial.

Afridi's lawyer Samiullah Afridi, who shares his client's tribal name, said on Saturday that the new charges against the doctor were "strange".

"How strange it is that authorities registered these cases after five years," he said, adding that he will defend his client in all the cases.

Naseeb Gula, from the northwestern tribal district of Khyber, accused Afridi of killing her son Sulaiman Afridi, who also shares the tribal name, in 2007.

She said the doctor operated on her son three times for appendicitis, but that he died after the operation.

The woman also accused Afridi of fraud, saying he was not authorised to operate on her son because he was not a surgeon.

A hearing has been fixed for December 20 in the main jail in Peshawar, Afridi's lawyer said.

It was decided to hear Afridi's case inside a jail due to security threats, according to a letter written by officials.


Get SBS News straight to your inbox

Sign up now for daily news from Australia and around the world. You can also subscribe to Insight's weekly newsletter for in-depth features and first-person stories.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Stream now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world