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Journalism of Courage
The 33-year jail term given to Shakeel Afridi,the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track Osama bin Laden,was Thursday overturned by an official who ordered a fresh trial.
Frontier Crimes Regulation Commissioner Sahibzada Mohammad Anees ruled that a judge in the tribal belt had exceeded his authority when he handed down the sentence last year and ordered a fresh trial.
Anees also handed over Afridis case to the political agent of Khyber Agency.
He said Afridi could be released only on the orders of the political agent.
Afridi,in his forties,was sentenced to 33 years in jail on May 24,2012 on a charge of aiding the banned Lashkar-e-Islam militant group. The verdict was issued by the assistant political agent,who has judicial powers.
He was also accused of conducting a fake vaccination campaign on behalf of the CIA in Abbottabad as part of efforts to trace bin Laden.
