Pakistani Woman Convicted of Trying to Kill American Soldiers, FBI agents in Afghanistan
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Aafia Siddiqui
A federal jury in Manhattan has convicted Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui of trying to kill American government personnel while she was in custody in Afghanistan.
Siddiqui, 37, was found guilty of attempted murder and six other charges stemming from the shooting at a police station in the Afghan town of Ghazni in July 2008. The jury of eight women and four men found that Siddiqui's acts were not premeditated, however. Defense lawyers said that means she will be sentenced to a maximum of 30 or 40 years. They plan to appeal on the grounds that the trial was unfair because of legal errors by Judge Richard Berman.
After the verdict was read, Siddiqui, dressed in white silk hijab that covered all but her eyes and hands, protested from her seat at the defense table. "This is a verdict coming from Israel, not America," she said. "Anger should be directed where it belongs. I have testimony and I have proof." Defense attorney Elaine Sharp said that Siddiqui wanted to send a message to her defenders in Pakistan not to respond to the guilty
verdict with violence. “She expressed to me adamantly that she does not want any violence, any violent protest, or any violent reprisal,” Sharp
told reporters. “That is not what she's about.”
(...) U.S. prosecutors presented six eyewitnesses, both American and Afghan, to the shooting in a small room at the police station in Ghazni.
Siddiqui had been arrested the day before, together with her 11-year-old son, and U.S. investigators had arrived to question her about items
reportedly found in her bag, including notes on making weapons and a “mass casualty attack” on landmarks in New York, and bottles containing what investigators said were “chemicals and gels.” The witnesses testified that Siddiqui, who was sequestered behind a curtain, grabbed a rifle that a U.S. soldier had laid down the floor nearby, shouted an obscenity, “Get the f--- out of here!” and “Allahu Akbar!” and shot off two rounds. An American soldier fired back with a pistol, wounding Siddiqui severely, although officials said she continued to struggle and
to shout that she wanted to “kill Americans.”
After the verdict was read, Siddiqui, dressed in white silk hijab that covered all but her eyes and hands, protested from her seat at the defense table. "This is a verdict coming from Israel, not America," she said. "Anger should be directed where it belongs. I have testimony and I have proof." Defense attorney Elaine Sharp said that Siddiqui wanted to send a message to her defenders in Pakistan not to respond to the guilty
verdict with violence. “She expressed to me adamantly that she does not want any violence, any violent protest, or any violent reprisal,” Sharp
told reporters. “That is not what she's about.”
(...) U.S. prosecutors presented six eyewitnesses, both American and Afghan, to the shooting in a small room at the police station in Ghazni.
Siddiqui had been arrested the day before, together with her 11-year-old son, and U.S. investigators had arrived to question her about items
reportedly found in her bag, including notes on making weapons and a “mass casualty attack” on landmarks in New York, and bottles containing what investigators said were “chemicals and gels.” The witnesses testified that Siddiqui, who was sequestered behind a curtain, grabbed a rifle that a U.S. soldier had laid down the floor nearby, shouted an obscenity, “Get the f--- out of here!” and “Allahu Akbar!” and shot off two rounds. An American soldier fired back with a pistol, wounding Siddiqui severely, although officials said she continued to struggle and
to shout that she wanted to “kill Americans.”