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Aafia’s insistence to testify was her real undoing: report
By Abrar Mustafa
ISLAMABAD: While a large number of Pakistanis continue to believe that Aafia Siddiqui, now held guilty by a jury in the United States, was picked up in the year 2003 from Karachi, surprisingly even her own testimony in the court did not touch upon the real circumstances of her disappearance. Official documents available with this scribe in which the Pakistan Embassy in the US updated the foreign minister of the details of the case, there are many aspects of the case that have not been reported in the media in the country.
These documents reveal that the real undoing for Dr Aafia Siddiqui was her insistence that she would testify in the court while she had been advised not to do so by her legal defence team. “She even refused to talk to her mother on the phone before testifying in front of the court, as her mother wanted to dissuade her from going against the legal advice,” a source said and added that a Pakistan Embassy official of the level of minister also met her to convince her against testifying in person.
Government vows good defence for Aafia Siddiqui
ISLAMABAD: The government assured the National Assembly on Thursday it would put up a “good defence” for Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui even at the next stage of her trial by a US court where a jury last week found her guilty of attempting to murder American soldiers in Afghanistan.
“Justice is not being done (to her),” Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Malik Amad Ahmed Khan said at the end of a one-sided debate in apparently Islamabad’s strongest comment to date in what he called “a common cause” against the Feb 3 conviction in New York.
He complained of that a Pakistani woman had been “maltreated” and said: “We all agree that somehow she should be brought back (to Pakistan).”
British Parliamentarians for public inquiry into Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s conviction
Describing the conviction of Pakistani neuroscientist Dr.Aafia Siddiqui as “miscarriage of justice”, British Parliamentarians have called for withdrawal of case against her and repatriation to Pakistan. At a function organised at the House of Lords on Tuesday evening to raise support for the incarcerated Dr. Siddiqui, Lord Nazir Ahmed together with other speakers said her trial in New York was full of flaws and not based on facts.
They sought the intervention of the US leadership and demanded a fair trial based on real facts and not assumptions. Lord Ahmed said he would be writing a letter to the US President Barack Obama carrying signatures of other British MPs calling for Dr.Siddiqui’s repatriation to Pakistan and withdrawal of case.
The Labour Peer further said he would also raise this question in the Parliament to ascertain how the British Government could help in this regard.
Aafia Siddiqui: Justice was not served
By Moin Ansari
The Terror-Industrial Complex
The conviction of the Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui in New York last week of trying to kill American military officers and FBI agents illustrates that the greatest danger to our security comes not from al-Qaida but the thousands of shadowy mercenaries, kidnappers, killers and torturers our government employs around the globe.
The bizarre story surrounding Siddiqui, 37, who received an undergraduate degree from MIT and a doctorate in neuroscience from Brandeis University, often defies belief. Siddiqui, who could spend 50 years in prison on seven charges when she is sentenced in May, was by her own account abducted in 2003 from her hometown of Karachi, Pakistan, with her three children—two of whom remain missing—and spirited to a secret U.S. prison where she was allegedly tortured and mistreated for five years. The American government has no comment, either about the alleged clandestine detention or the missing children.
APL to support Lord Ahmed for Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s fair trial
LONDON : The UK-based Association of Pakistani origin Lawyers (APL) has announced its complete support to the campaign initiated by British parliamentarian Lord Nazir Ahmed to seek a fair trial of Dr.Aafia Siddiqui. APL Chair Barrister Amjad Malik, said Tuesday that western media has blacked out Dr.Siddiqui’s conviction and reactions including reservations on trial which shows that it is always ready to rub under the carpet some of the worst human rights abuses when it comes to their national interest.
He confirmed that APL appreciates Lord Ahmed’s stance on Dr. Siddiqui’s case and that the Association will support any drive Lord Ahmed initiates to campaign, and seek fair trial for Dr. Siddiqui.
He said it is strange that neuroscientist was first labelled as No.7 on the wanted list of Al-Qaeda and later was charged and tried for minor criminal offences and she never had the opportunity to wipe the stigma attached to her name being associated with the outfit which in itself is a criminal offence.
LHC orders steps for Aafia’s release
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court disposed of a petition on Monday directing the federal government to take effective measures for the release and repatriation of Dr Aafia Siddiqui from US detention.
Dr Aafia has been convicted by a US court with attempted killing of US agents while in detention in Bagram, Afghanistan.
Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry directed the Foreign Affairs Ministry to evolve a strategy in consultation with the Law Ministry to take measures, if viable, for the release of Dr Aafia. The petition was filed by Barrister Javed Iqbal Jaffrey.
The judge has already disposed of a petition filed by Mr Jaffrey seeking the doctor’s release and repatriation through the International Court of Justice. The judge ordered the Foreign Ministry to collect evidences from Barrister Jaffrey about Dr Aafia’s alleged arrest in Karachi in 2002 and refer it to her lawyers in the US where she was facing a trial at that time.
Aafia Siddiqi supporters hold anti-US rally in Islamabad
An anti-US rally was held in Islamabad on Monday protesting the US Federal Court verdict convicting Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui.
On February 8, a 12-member New York jury convicted Siddiqui, a mother of three and a graduate of the prestigious American university, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, of attempted murder. She had been charged with shooting at her interrogators in Afghanistan in 2008.
Siddiqui, 37, could receive a life sentence at the sentencing hearing scheduled for May 6.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has ordered the government to provide legal assistance to Siddiqui. The Lahore High Court has also asked the Pakistani Foreign Ministry to make every effort to secure her release.
Aafia Siddiqui: Victimized by American Injustice
by Stephen Lendman
On February 3, a Department of Justice press release headlined “Aafia Siddiqui Found Guilty in Manhattan Federal Court of Attempting to Murder US Nationals in Afghanistan and Six Additional Charges.”
At her scheduled May 6 sentencing, she “faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each of the attempted murder and armed assault charges; life in prison on the firearms charge; and eight years in prison on each of the remaining assault charges. SIDDIQUI faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years in prison on the firearms charge.”
On February 3, New York Times writer CJ Hughes headlined: “Pakistani Scientist Found Guilty of Shootings,” convicting her on all seven counts, including attempted murder – “capping a trial that drew notice for its terrorist implications as well as its theatrics,” but omitting convincing evidence of Siddiqui’s innocence.
Pak Embassy did not pursue Aafia’s case properly
ISLAMABAD – The Government’s lack of interest, despite its tall claims for early release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, can be judged from the fact that no one from Pakistan’s Embassy attended Dr Aafia’s hearing in the New York court that convicted her of late, in spite of the fact that all allegations levelled against her were proven wrong, TheNation learnt reliably.
According to eyewitnesses, it was awful to see that during the entire course of trial, not a single official from Pakistani Embassy was present in the court on part of the Government of Pakistan to observe proceedings.
Dr Fouzia, sister of Dr Aafia, when contacted, told TheNation that the US Ambassador Hussain Haqqani had not presented true picture of Dr Aafia’s case to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani. She said it was so surprising for her family when they came to know that diplomatic seat in the courtroom was vacant.
‘Govt, opposition responsible for Aafia’s plight’
ISLAMABAD – Gen (R) Hamid Gul has said that owing to secret agreements between the political parties and the US, both the opposition and the ruling PPP did not raise their voice in Dr Aafia Sidduqui’s case.
He stated this while addressing a protest gathering here on Monday, which was organised by the students of various universities including International Islamic University, Iqra University, Lahore University, National University of Modern Languages and other local universities against the illegal detention of Dr Aafia.
Gul was of the view that both the incumbent government and the political parties belonging to Opposition were responsible for abduction of Pakistani nationals by the US. “Whenever a political party came to power, they made such agreements and assured their American bosses that they would abide by all such security agreements.”
