Aafia Siddiqui’s Trial

The family and well wishers of Aafia Siddiqui received fresh tidings of grief after a US federal court sentenced Aafia to 86 years in prison. This Pakistani neuroscientist was convicted of firing at US troops in Afghanistan while being in custody and had six other charges against her. Her lawyers had requested a sentence of 12 years, while prosecutors had pressed for a life sentence. “It is my judgment that Dr Siddiqui is sentenced to a period of incarceration of 86 years,” said Judge Richard Berman who was in charge of the case. Dr Aafia Siddiqui denounced the trial and said an appeal would be “a waste of time. I appeal to God.” “Don’t get angry,” Dr Siddiqui, 38, said in court to her supporters after the sentence was announced. “Forgive Judge Berman.” During a rambling statement to the court on Thursday, Dr Siddiqui carried only a message of peace. “I do not want any bloodshed. I do not want any misunderstanding. I really want to make peace and end the wars,” she said. Hundreds of supporters of Dr Siddiqui had gathered on the court grounds and adjoining areas protesting against her trial and conviction. It was almost impossible to enter the court premises because of the crowd. Whereas back home, around 200 activists from Jamaat-i-Islami and various groups gathered outside Dr Siddiqui’s Karachi home after the sentence. They chanted slogans, including “Down with America” and “Allah-o-Akbar” soon after the news of the sentence was telecast by TV channels. The family of Dr Aafia Siddiqui vowed in Karachi on Thursday to launch a ‘movement’ to get her released from jail in America. Fowzia Siddiqui told reporters all of Pakistan would agitate to get her sister freed. “I was alone eight years ago when I started the campaign to release my sister, but from now on it will be the Aafia movement as the whole nation is with me,” she said. The Aafia Siddiqui case has been followed by scores of people from across the world; however, her fate remains powerless in the hands of mighty America. Injustice and the dispensable nature of human life in the hands of a powerful superpower is what the Aafia case speaks of.