The lawyers of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, Pakistani neuroscientist accused of “terrorism” by the United States, said this week that she has appealed to outgoing President Joe Biden to grant her clemency before he hands over the reins of the country to President-elect Donald Trump.
Siddiqui, who is a US-trained neuroscientist, was convicted in 2010 on multiple charges, including attempting to kill US nationals. She became a suspect after leaving the US and marrying a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, a self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Siddiqui was wounded during a confrontation with US officials in Afghanistan in 2008, with some reports suggesting she shot at the Americans. She was sentenced to 86 years in prison by a US court in 2010, prompting a huge outcry from Pakistan and human rights voices worldwide.
Dr. Siddiqui’s lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, has submitted a 76,500-word dossier to Biden and is calling on the American president to pardon her before Trump’s swearing-in on Monday.
“We just pray and keep our fingers crossed and I hope to goodness our clemency is granted Monday morning,” Smith told Arab News late Saturday night.
“And if not, revert to plan B and plan C and plan D until we get her out of this awful place,” he added.
Smith said Siddiqui was “in good spirits” when he met her on Friday at the detention facility in Fort Worth, Texas, for four hours despite her trauma. He said Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui, her sister, had travelled 10,000 miles to see her sister but was only allowed an hour and 40 minutes to see her sister.