Friday, September 24, 2010


Pakistani Scientist Found Guilty of Attempted Killing in Afghanistan
Thursday, September 23, 2010
By Ailsa Chang

A Pakistani neuroscientist has been sentenced to 86 years in prison for trying to kill FBI agents and military officers while she was in custody in Afghanistan.

Lawyers for Aafia Siddiqui, 38, had asked for 12 years, but prosecutors pushed for life in prison.

U.S. officials and soldiers testified that when they tried to interrogate Siddiqui in July 2008, she grabbed an assault rifle and fired at them yelling, "Death to Americans!"

The judge concluded her forceful resistance amounted to terrorism, and handed down a harsher sentence based on a "terrorism enhancement" under federal sentencing guidelines. But Siddiqui's lawyer Charlie Swift says under that analysis, anyone who uses force against federal authorities would be considered a terrorist.

"It broadly overstates what terrorism is," says Swift, "and it actually diminishes the punishment for terrorism because it's now saying that terrorism is almost anything. And I think that's one of the things that in the post 9/11 world we've gotten wrong."

During her 14-day trial, she was removed from the courtroom numerous times for loud outbursts.

In February, a jury found her guilty of all seven counts against her, including attempted murder and assault. Her conviction and sentencing have triggered protests in Pakistan.

At her sentencing hearing this morning, Siddiqui reassured her supporters she had not been tortured in jail and that she wished only for an end to the wars.

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