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         Lawyer for Jailed Pakistani Doctor Quits, Blames Death Threats

   by VOA News

   The lawyer defending a Pakistani doctor jailed after helping the United
   States find Osama bin Laden is quitting the case because of death
   threats from militants and alleged U.S. interference in the trial, the
   lawyer said Sunday.
   "I am getting threats on a regular basis. Not only is my life in
   danger, my family is also in danger. I have therefore decided to quit,"
   lawyer Samiullah Khan Afridi said.
     ''
   Afridi said he made the decision after he received what he described as
   a "final" warning from militants. Afridi said he represented Dr. Shakil
   Afridi on humanitarian grounds, but said it is now not possible for him
   to continue.
   The two Afridis are not related.
   Shakil Afridi was initially sentenced to 33 years in prison in May 2012
   after being convicted of providing money and medical treatment to
   Islamic militants in Khyber tribal region -- not for helping the CIA
   track down and kill bin Laden in a 2011 raid.
   Afridi's family and the militants have denied the allegations.
   A Pakistani court later reduced Shakil Afridi's sentence 23 years on
   appeal. He is still in jail and undergoing a retrial, but his lawyer
   said the U.S. government was unduly interfering.
   "The government of America is putting a lot of pressure on the
   Pakistani government for the release of Dr. Shakil Afridi," he said.
   "Our mission and our wish also was to get him released, but our courts
   are free and they have to work according to a set procedure. I
   therefore did not like America's unjustified pressure."
   A U.S. Embassy spokeswoman was not immediately able to comment on the
   allegations.
   Vaccination program
   The raid --  and Shakil Afridi's jail sentence -- severely strained
   relations between the U.S. and Pakistan, its nominal ally.
   Pakistan's powerful army was furious that the U.S. had mounted a
   military operation on its soil without advance warning. In turn, some
   U.S. leaders were suspicious that Pakistani security forces may have
   helped shield bin Laden.
   Shakil Afridi is widely believed to have been targeted by Pakistani
   authorities because of running the vaccination program that collected
   DNA to try to verify bin Laden's presence in the town of Abbottabad.
   Afridi through his lawyers has denied helping the CIA, though U.S.
   lawmakers have confirmed he had a role in the hunt for Bin Laden. The
   U.S. has exerted diplomatic pressure for his release.
   The original sentence provoked outrage in the U.S. and the government
   cut a symbolic $33 million from an aid package to Pakistan.
   Several militant groups, including the Taliban, have threatened to kill
   Shakil Afridi if he is ever released.
   Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, AP.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/lawyer-for-jailed-pakistani-doctor-qu
   its-blames-death-threats/1912244.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/lawyer-for-jailed-pakistani-doctor-quits-blames-death-threats/1912244.html