CNN
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Prominent Pakistani lawyer and human rights activist shot dead in court on Monday A building in the northwestern city of Peshawar, according to police and witnesses.
Abdul Latif Afridi, 79, former president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, was shot six times in the break room of the Peshawar High Court, Metropolitan Police Chief Mohammed Ijaz Khan told CNN.
Khan said he identified the suspect as Adnan Sami Afridi, 24, a junior lawyer with no direct relationship to the deceased Afridi, who had been taken into custody.
Witness Hayat Rogani said the suspect raised his hand and surrendered after the shooting, avenging his father’s death. Police also told CNN the suspect said it was a revenge killing.
The suspect’s father, lawyer Samiullah Afridi, was killed by an unidentified shooter in 2015. At the time, two militant groups claimed that the CIA murdered Afridi, who worked for a doctor who helped Osamabin find his Laden.
While Peshawar courts are usually heavily policed, lawyers are not subject to physical searches upon entry. Courtroom security has long been questioned after a teenage boy was shot dead.
Another former parliamentarian, Latif Afridi, has been a vocal critic of the powerful military’s interference in Pakistani politics and the allegations of Islamist extremists.
Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif statement On Twitter, he expresses his grief and “deep sadness” over the death of Latif Afridi.
He also blamed the “worsening law and order situation” in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, of which Peshawar is the capital.
