(AFP) WASHINGTON – Shakeeel Afridi was found guilty of treason, sentenced to 33 years in prison and fined 320,000 rupees (£2,200) under an archaic tribal justice system that has governed Pakistan’s semi-autonomous tribal belt since British rule.
Afridi was not entitled to a lawyer but was given a chance to defend himself and has a right to appeal the verdict, officials said.
Critics said he should not have been tried under tribal law for an alleged crime that took place outside the tribal belt, in the town of Abbottabad where he ran a fake vaccination programme designed to collect bin Laden family DNA.