On 17 March 2015, lawyer Samiullah Afridi from Pakistan was reportedly shot dead in an attack by unidentified assailants while on his way home in Peshawar, Pakistan.
In 2013, Samiullah Afridi stated that he had received several death threats from militant groups and various organisations. For his own safety, and that of his family, he fled Pakistan briefly. It is believed he was targeted due to his involvement representing Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi (no relation), who, it is alleged, ran a false vaccination campaign aimed at gathering DNA samples from the Abbottabad compound where the then wanted leader of al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, was in hiding. It is believed that this DNA campaign assisted the United States intelligence agency, the CIA, in their search for, and subsequent assassination, of bin Laden.
In 2014, Mr Afridi stopped representing Dr Afridi due to the numerous death threats he had received.
Lawyers for Lawyers is very worried about the situation of lawyers in Pakistan, and is currently considering what actions to take on their behalf.
