In the latest developments on the matter, the lawyer of Pakistani neuroscientist, Dr Aafia Siddiqui, plans to challenge her conviction and subsequent incarceration. He also plans to assemble a team of lawyers to sue the FMC Carswell Prison, alleging multiple instances of abuse.
Speaking in an interview on Salaamedia, Clive Stafford Smith provided an update on Siddiqui’s wellbeing. She has languished in the Texas prison since being sentenced to 86 years in prison on charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.
He visited her on Tuesday, reporting back: “She was really upset at where she is and just desperate to get out of it and to get home. She’d love me to snap my fingers and just be able to take her home with me; unfortunately that’s not the case”.
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Challenge
With a former United States intelligence officer, turned private investigator, willing to help with more information, Smith believes he will soon be ready to head to New York. There, he will challenge her conviction and file for compassionate release by November.
He also plans to assemble a team of Muslim lawyers in Texas. They will be tasked with suing the prison over its “dreadful” treatment and abuse of Siddiqui.
“There’s a well established history of sexual abuse that we’ve got to stop. That’s by far the most important thing about the prison,” he said.
Moreover, “she hasn’t had an imam to come see her to give her any sort of religious solace. She hasn’t had doctors allowed in to see her, to give her treatment, and now they’re giving me trouble with legal visits”.
But, equally important, the team will also “sue them on a number of levels, not just for Aafia, but for the other 975 women in that terrible prison because it’s just the most dreadful place”.
