NEW YORK – Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, who was convicted of allegedly trying to kill American soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan, was sentenced to 86 years in prison on Thursday in the Federal District Court in New York City.
Siddiqui, 38, in a white scarf, was calm when Judge Richard Berman pronounced the maximum sentence, but said that she was innocent. Outside the court building noisy demonstrations were staged by human rights activists and other supporters calling for her repatriation to Pakistan.
One of her lawyers, Dawn Cardi, said that the defence team, hired by the Pakistan Government, would appeal against the sentence but Siddiqui disowned them. “They don’t represent me.”
Her case had attracted the attention of human rights groups, some of which conducted campaigns in favour of her release or a lenient sentence. Her lawyers had requested a sentence of 12 years, while the government prosecutors had pressed for a life sentence. The prosecutors insisted that the court had the duty to protect the American people.
Siddiqui, who got biology and neuroscience degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, had punctuated her 14-day trial with numerous outbursts, resulting in her being ejected from the courtroom on several occasions.
Prior to her sentencing, Siddiqui disputed claims by her lawyers that she has a mental illness. She also urged her supporters not to lobby for her or turn violent. “I stand for peace and justice,” she said.
“I do not want a 9/11,” she added. “I do not want any bloodshed.”
A jury found Siddiqui guilty in February of seven charges, including two counts of attempted murder. The jury found there wasnÂ’t premeditation in the attempted murder charges.
Siddiqui denied she was against Israel as projected in the press. But Israel has arrested Palestinian children and she was critical of the Jewish State’s policies. “I love all countries, including her homeland-Pakistan,” she said.
She said Islam had taught her to be patient and forgiving.
After she was sentenced Thursday, Siddiqui turned to the audience and urged the public to forgive the persons involved in her case and not to take any actions of revenge.
Siddiqui, according to the Americans interrogators, who travelled to Ghazni, was behind a curtain in the second-floor room where they gathered. She burst from behind the curtain, grabbed an American soldierÂ’s rifle and started firing, prosecutors said.
She was shot in the abdomen by a soldier who returned fire with his sidearm, prosecutors said.
Siddiqui has denied grabbing the weapon or having any familiarity with firearms.
At trial, she testified that she was simply trying to escape the room and was shot by someone who saw her. She claimed she was concerned at the time about being transferred to a “secret” prison.
“He saw me and he got scared. He said, ‘she’s free’ or ‘she’s loose,’ “ she said at the time.
On Thursday, Siddiqui, who has previously expressed displeasure with her lawyers and the US legal process, said that she didnÂ’t want the lawyers on her case to file an appeal and that she didnÂ’t want them to take any further action in her case.
SiddiquiÂ’s mental state has loomed large over her trial, with her lawyers claiming she suffers from schizophrenia.
Judge Berman, who is presiding, found her competent to stand trial. He noted Thursday that experts for the defence and the prosecution gave conflicting opinions about SiddiquiÂ’s mental state and that she had been uncooperative with prison psychologists.
During the hearing, Siddiqui raised her hands and shook her head several times when her lawyer, Dawn Cardi, argued she had a mental illness.
“I do not have any mental illness,” Siddiqui said.
The judge ordered that she receive periodic mental evaluations while serving her sentence. He also recommended that she should be shifted to a medical facility in Texas.