ISLAMABAD: A senior civil judge on Monday indicted Osama bin Laden's three widows and two of his daughters to a month and a half in prison for having resided illegally, ordering the government to arrange their repatriation as soon as possible.
Senior Civil Judge, Shahrukh Arjumand handed down 45-day imprisonment along with a fine of Rs10,000 each, to Bin Laden’s three widows and two daughters, who would be deported to their respective countries – Saudi Arabia and Yemen after competing their imprisonment.
"The judge has announced a one and a half month imprisonment to all the five accused. The punishment was announced today. He has also imposed a fine of 10,000 rupees," Zakarya Ahmad Abd al-Fattah, the Yemeni brother of one of the wives, told reporters here outside the home in the capital, where the Al-Qaeda leader’s widows are living and which officials have declared a “sub jail”.
He said, “The court has also given direction to the government to arrange the necessary documents for their earliest repatriation, so that they can go to their own country with the earliest.”
Amal al Sadeh along with bin Laden’s two other wives from Saudi Arabia and an undisclosed number of children were among the 16 people detained by Pakistani authorities in the wake of the May 2 raid on the al Qaeda leader’s Abbottabad compound.
Yemen had urged Pakistan to return Sadeh and her four children to her home country, saying they were not guilty of any crime.
Authorities had previously said they will repatriate the women to their home countries after a judicial commission probing the Bin Laden raid has completed its questioning.
The commission has interviewed them for clues about how the Al-Qaeda chief managed to stay in the country undetected.
Their lawyer Muhammad Aamir said the period of detention began on March 3, when they were formally arrested on charges of illegal entry and residency in Pakistan and that they would continue to be held at their villa in Islamabad.
“The interior secretary has been directed to arrange their deportation,” Aamir told reporters, adding, “I think it will be completed probably in two weeks.” (PPI)