Former US Diplomat Robin Raphel's espionage case dropped by Justice Department

By Staff Writer | Mar 22, 2016 06:32 AM EDT

The espionage case against former American diplomat Robin L. Raphel has already been closed by the Justice Department. Raphel's case started when she was accused of having ties with Pakistan a year ago.

In 2014, Raphel's home and office were raided by FBI agents looking for evidence that she is a spy for Islamabad, the place where she was assigned. According to Daily Pakistan, she was accused of passing an American secret information to the Pakistani government. One of the captured Pakistani officials said that they are receiving vital information regarding the United States from Raphel.

According to lawyer Amy Jeffress, it was clear from the start that the investigation is just based on a fundamental misunderstanding. She added that it is important to their national security that their diplomats will be able to do their job without fear that their diplomatic duties will soon be a subject to criminal investigation. 

For decades, Raphel has been at the forefront of shaping the American policy towards Pakistan. She maintained close ties to Pakistani officials regardless of how Islamabad addressed the issue of terrorism. As reported by The Washington Post, Raphel who is 68 years old was amongst the US government's most senior advisers on Pakistan and South Asian Issues. She was also a former ambassador to Tunisia.

According to former Pakistani ambassador Husain Haqqani, he hopes that there will no more good American diplomat who will suffer because of a premature inquiry to a leaked story which made her look like a criminal  even before a case was filed. He added that it is good that the DOJ did the right thing as per The New York Times.

After around 2 years of doing the case, the prosecutors failed to find additional pieces of evidence against her. They finally decided to drop the case and not file any charges of espionage or anything related to the matter.

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