Hero: Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped the CIA track down Osama bin Laden, claims he is being held in total isolation in Pakistan's Peshawar prison The heroic doctor who helped the United States pinpoint the location of Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden has been held in complete isolation in a Pakistani prison since September 2012 - without access to lawyers or family - as he waits for a court to decide his future, according to a letter smuggled out of the country by a supporter. Shakil Afridi, 49 - who worked with the CIA on a fake vaccination operation to confirm the presence of bin Laden in an Abbottobad compound, resulting in the fateful May 2011 SEAL mission that killed the terrorist mastermind - is regarded as a hero in the US but has been tried as a traitor in Pakistan.
@highlight
Shakil Afridi ran a vaccination program for the CIA to pinpoint Osama bin Laden in Pakistan before the raid that killed him
@highlight
The doctor was sentenced to 33 years in jail after the mission for 'conspiring against the state'
@highlight
While the conviction was overturned, he has been remanded in prison pending a new verdict on Dec. 18
@highlight
A letter written by Afridi smuggled out of Pakistan by one of his supporters says the doctor is being held in complete isolation without access to his lawyers or family and is being subjected to 'mental torture'
In the almost-10 years between the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and the mission, the country continually said it was not plausible for the @placeholder leader to be hiding in Pakistan, only for him to be located in one of their most affluent towns.