Bin Laden Family Sentenced for Living in Pakistan Illegally
Osama bin Laden's three widows and two daughters have all been sentenced to 45 days of house arrest for living in Pakistan illegally and will likely be deported. All five women were sentenced to serve time in jail, but their villa in Islamabad (pictured above) has been declared a "sub jail" where they will serve out the remainder of their sentence. (They've already been under arrest since March 3, so those days since will count toward their sentence.) In addition to the detainment, they were fined 10,000 rupees (about 110 US dollars) and the judge has ordered the interior secretary to deport them to their home countries. Two of the wives are Saudi Arabia and one is from Yemen.
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The family members have technically been in custody since bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces last May. In recent weeks, details have emerged about interviews the women have given to intelligence sources about bin Laden's life following the September 11 attacks. Bin Laden is believed to have lived in Pakistan for nearly a decade, including five years in the compound in Abbottabad where he was eventually found. U.S. officials have claimed that some in the Pakistani government knew of bin Laden's whereabouts or actively helped to hide him, which is why there are plenty of people outside of Pakistan who like to talk to his family some more.
