News is breaking that Pakistani officials have overturned the jail sentence of Dr. Shakil Afridi–the doctor who helped the CIA pinpoint Osama bin Laden.
Afridi was arrested for “conspiring against the state of Pakistan” just after the raid on bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan by U.S. Navy SEALs took place. He was sentenced to prison for 33 years in May 2012, one year after bin Laden was killed.
Thereafter, efforts to free Afridi were launched by Robert and Kira Lorsch’s website, FreeAfridi.com; Breitbart News has extensively covered these efforts.
Now, according to an August 29 BBC News report, Afridi’s sentence has been thrown out and a “retrial ordered because the previous judge exceeded his authority in handing down the sentence.” News coming out today indicates the judge who sentenced Afridi was not a “real judge” but an “official with the status equivalent of a magistrate.” A “real judge” will be required to sit over the retrial.
Upon receiving this information, Robert and Kira Lorsch released the following statement to Breitbart News:
We are thrilled to hear of the progress towards getting Dr. Afridi released and his sentence overturned. This is the kind of thing that happens when the world pulls together to do what’s right. There has been a lot of hard work starting in Congress and led by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), the entertainment industry and most importantly global support from the media starting with the reporting at Fox and Breitbart News. This gives us hope that with our continued combined efforts, we will welcome this American Hero home to the United States.
Afridi will remain in prison until his retrial is concluded. As of now, no date for the retrial has been given.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins.