Dr.Aafia to New York After Psychological Evaluation
NEW YORK: Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist charged with alleged attempt to attack American soldiers and F.B.I. agents in Afghanistan, has been shifted to New York from a medical facility in Texas where she underwent a complete psychological evaluation.
Ms. Siddiqui, 37, was sent to Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, on the orders of Judge Richard Berman after her defence lawyers pleaded that she was unfit to stand trial as a result of the trauma she suffered after her arrest in Afghanistan in late July last year.
With the completion of her tests, officials said Ms. Siddiqi was brought back to New York and placed in the high security Metropolitan Detention Centre (MDC) in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. Her prosecutors and defence lawyers were to meet Judge Berman in a conference to discuss reports of her evaluation—both by the Texas Medical Centre as well as those done by private psychiatrists engaged by two sides. The judge has tentatively scheduled a hearing for July 6 to determine her competency to stand trial, which is expected to take place in October.
Meanwhile, a Pakistani diplomat in Washington said, the embassy has been in constant contact with Ms Siddiqui and making efforts for protection of her legal rights. Fakir Asif Hussain, a senior Pakistani diplomat in Washington, talked to Ms Siddiqui by phone on Thursday, and Ambassador Husain Haqqani had a telephonic conversation arranged between Ms Siddiqui and her mother during a visit to Texas earlier this month. The Pakistani envoy also reiterated the offer of legal support to her. According to senior diplomat, the embassy has been seeking U.S. cooperation for her early repatriation to homeland.
SOURCE: www.apakistannews.com
