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Defence highlights lack of coherence in testimony against Dr Aafia Siddiqui

NEW YORK: The trial of Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani scientist charged with shooting at her US interrogators in Afghanistan, moved into the final stage on Monday, with defence lawyers highlighting in their final arguments the lack of coherence in the accounts by prosecution witnesses. After both the prosecution and defence delivered their closing arguments, the 16-member jury went into deliberations to reach a verdict.

According to experts, the verdict could come early next week, although there is no fixed timeframe for the judgement.

The defence’s main argument was that evidence by the prosecution witnesses lacked coherence and their varying accounts were, in fact, contradictory – not only to each other but to themselves. Besides, the defence argued emphatically that there was no physical evidence produced by the prosecution to substantiate charges against Dr Aafia. The prosecution, they stated, tried to create an “atmosphere of fear” by producing handwritten notes by Aafia.