[Ppnews] Aafia's Siddiqui's lawyers argued nine points in her appeal

[Political Prisoner News]

<http://tribune.com.pk/story/334753/us-court-hears-dr-aafia-siddiquis-lawyers-appeal/>US 
court hears Dr Aafia Siddiqui's lawyers appeal

By <http://tribune.com.pk/author/1107/huma-imtiaz/>Huma Imtiaz
Published: February 11, 2012
http://tribune.com.pk/story/334753/us-court-hears-dr-aafia-siddiquis-lawyers-appeal/


WASHINGTON: More than a year after the infamous neuroscientist Dr 
Aafia Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years in prison on charges of 
attacking US soldiers, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit 
heard an appeal in New York on Friday.

Speaking to the The Express Tribune, Dawn Cardi, Dr Siddiqui's lawyer 
who has filed the appeal, said that they argued nine points. Cardi 
said that Dr Siddiqui's statements that were used to impeach her were 
not voluntarily obtained, and that she should get a new trial.

Cardi said that the terrorism enhancements should [not] have been 
imposed on the facts because it increased the 20-year sentence that 
Dr Sidduqui would have gotten to [a] life sentence. Dr Siddiqui's 
lawyer also said that they argued in front of the court that because 
of Dr Siddiqui's mental health condition, her lawyers should have 
made the decision about her testifying at court, and not Dr Siddiqui herself.

When asked about the road ahead for the woman whose case grabbed 
headlines around the world when she was discovered at Bagram in 2008, 
Cardi said, "We wont know until the court writes its decision. It'll 
take 3-4 months, and then there is no other recourse. Unless there is 
a constitutional issue of significance, you can not make an appeal to 
the Supreme Court, but its too early to say."

Dr Aafia Siddiqui, a neuroscientist by profession and a graduate of 
MIT and currently held at a federal medical centre in Texas, 
allegedly went missing for five years before she was discovered in 
Afghanistan. The prosecution says that she tried to fire on a US 
soldier during her interrogation. She has also been accused of 
working for al Qaeda. Dr Siddiqui's family disputes the US version of 
this account.

After her sentencing in September 2010, Dr Siddiqui also tried to 
fire her lawyers, and wrote a letter to the court that she did not 
want her case appealed. Dawn Cardi, Dr Siddiqui's counsel, said that 
no one ever filed a notice of appearance for Dr Siddiqui to do her 
appeal. "As her assigned counsel, it is our obligation to appeal her case."




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20120210/c27fe51b/attachment.htm>