Source: Daily Times

WASHINGTON: Dr Aafia Siddiqui, whom a government doctor has declared unfit to stand trial, will be repatriated to Pakistan, if a plea made by the Pakistan government succeeds in persuading American authorities to drop the case they have lodged against her of murderous assault on US serviceman in Kabul.
According to the official US version, she was overpowered, arrested and flown secretly to New York. The Pakistani mission in Kabul should have been informed of this because the accused is a Pakistani citizen, but this was not done. Most people consider the assault charge made against Siddiqui frivolous and lacking in credibility.
The medical examination to which Siddiqui was subjected in Texas determined that she is neither competent to assist in preparing her defence nor to stand trial. In such cases, courts normally order the accused to be sent to a psychiatric facility where he or she can be kept indefinitely. Daily Times understands that a high-level effort has been made by Islamabad to secure Aafia Siddiqui’s release and repatriation to Pakistan.
At the hearing in New York on Wednesday, the judge brought the government doctor’s report declaring Dr Siddiqui mentally unfit to stand trial to the notice of the prosecution, seeking a reaction. The prosecution responded that it would study the report and could ask for an independent assessment of the finding about the Pakistani prisoner’s mental health. The judge set December 17 for the next hearing. Dr Siddiqui’s defence lawyer was present in the court, as was an official from the Pakistan consulate-general in New York.

 E-mail this article to a friend

Tags: Aafia Siddiqui, Al Qaida, Kabul, Trial, US