PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) - The brother of a doctor sentenced to 33 years for helping the United States track down Osama bin Laden says he is innocent and the Pakistani trial that convicted him was a sham.
Jamil Afridi and lawyers representing the doctor Shakil Afridi said at a news conference Monday that they will appeal the verdict handed down last week.
Afridi's conviction threw already tense U.S.-Pakistani relations into a tailspin.
The U.S. wants Pakistan to release the doctor. He ran a vaccination program to verify the al-Qaida leader's presence at a compound in Abbottabad where U.S. commandos killed him.
Pakistan charged the doctor with high treason.
Afridi's lawyer said the trial should have been held in Abbotabad instead of a court in an autonomous tribal area.
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