PESHAWAR - Funeral prayer for Latif Afridi was held on Tuesday as the lawyers went on strike in protest over the murder of Latif Afridi, a prominent lawyer and former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association. People from all walks of life, including the Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court, ministers, lawmakers, and attorneys, gathered for the senior lawyer’s burial prayer at Baagh-e-Naraan in Hayatabad amid strict security. Lawyers’ organisations have declared a threeday mourning period in response to the murder. Adnan Sami Afridi, the suspect in Latif Afridi’s murder, appeared before a judge on Tuesday. After the judge issued a two-day remand, the accused was turned over to the police. According to the police, the suspect was caught from the Peshawar High Court grounds not long after opening fire on Latif Afridi inside the bar room. Many others were concerned about security, wondering how someone could obtain a gun inside the protected building if protection was adequate. Latif Afridi, 79, was a prominent politician and lawyer who also served in the National Assembly. He was also a member of the Awami National Party and the National Democratic Movement, as well as the Pakistan Bar Council, and he was the president of the Peshawar High Court Bar Association and the Supreme Court Bar Association. According to sources, the killer’s father, Sami Ullah Afridi, was also assassinated in 2015. Sami Ullah Afridi was the counsel for Dr Shakil Afridi, who was imprisoned in Abbottabad a few years ago for spying on Osama bin Laden. The late Latif Afridi and his family members were also accused of killing senior judge Aftab Afridi and his family on a motorway in 2021, but a judge eventually declared them not guilty. A commission has been constituted under the direction of the senior superintendent of police (SSP) investigation to determine whether there was a security breach and how the accused was able to enter the high court premises while armed.
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