The jailed Pakistani physician and CIA informant, who helped hunt down Osama bin Laden, has been tortured in prison, family members said.
“I was told by a prison source that Shakeel and two guards were subjected to torture by jail administration sometime in November,” Jamil Afridi, the brother of the jailed physician, Dr. Shakeel Afridi, told Fox News in a recent interview.
Jamil Afridi told Fox that he learned about the torture on Nov. 21, when he tried to visit his brother in jail but was turned away, and in a subsequent court hearing on Nov. 22.
“His privileges have been revoked and he’s been shifted to another cell,” Jamil told Fox. “They are strict with him, and treating him inhumanely.”
Jamil Afridi has not been allowed to visit his brother.
He was reluctant to describe to Fox how his brother might have been tortured, saying he feared that his communications were being monitored by Pakistani authorities.
But a cousin and member of Dr. Afridi's legal counsel confirmed Jamil’s claims.
“I received phone calls from people who have good connections with prison officials in Peshawar, and they told me Afridi has been physically tortured,” the cousin confirmed to Fox.
Pakistani officials did not return calls seeking comment, Fox reports.
A State Department spokesperson said that the U.S. has not yet determined if the report is true, but called the matter “troubling,” according to Fox.
"As Secretary Clinton has said, we believe that the prosecution and conviction of Dr. Afridi sends the wrong message about the importance of our shared interest in taking down one of the world’s most notorious terrorists," the spokesperson explained.
"That was clearly in Pakistan’s interests as well as ours and the rest of the world. We regret both the fact that he was convicted and the severity of his sentence. We have made our views very well known — both to the Pakistanis and in public."
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