ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track and kill Osama bin Laden has launched a hunger strike from his prison cell, his lawyer and family said Monday. Shakeel Afridi has been languishing behind bars for years since his fake vaccination programme helped US agents track and kill the Al Qaeda leader in 2011. “It is to protest the injustices and inhumane attitudes being committed against him and his family,” his brother Jamil Afridi told AFP after meeting with Afridi in a prison in central Punjab province. Afridi was jailed for 33 years in May 2012 after he was convicted of having ties to militants, a charge he has always denied. For years Afridi has had no access to his lawyer, while his appeal against his prison sentence has stalled with scheduled court appearances repeatedly delayed.

Source: Pakistan Today March 02, 2020 16:41 UTC