31/07/2009
Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist accused of trying to kill American soldiers and F.B.I. agents in Afghanistan, has been found competent to stand trial by a federal judge in Manhattan. (She is fit for trial or not but the real question is whether US court itself is fit for delivering justice or to analyze cooked stories of FBI & US authorities. To have a glimpse of US Department of Justice see ” Death Merchants & US Department of Justice “)
The judge, Richard M. Berman of Federal District Court, said in a 36-page decision issued on Wednesday that Ms. Siddiqui “has a rational as well as a factual understanding of the proceedings against her” and could assist her lawyers with her defense. He set a trial date for Oct. 19. (Offcourse she do know very well, what kind of brutality has been shown against her in almost 6 years of detention).
In a competency hearing this month, psychological experts offered differing testimony as to whether Ms. Siddiqui was suffering from a genuine mental disorder, as her lawyer argued, or was faking symptoms of mental illness, as prosecutors maintained.
Records introduced in court showed that Ms. Siddiqui had also spoken of having visions of flying infants, a dog in her cell and children visiting her.A psychologist retained by the defense found that she was suffering from a delusional disorder and was not competent for trial. Her lawyer, Dawn M. Cardi, said after the hearing that her outbursts were “an example of her mental illness.”Two government-retained psychiatrists said Ms. Siddiqui was competent to stand trial. A prosecutor, Christopher L. LaVigne, told the judge that she was malingering in an “attempt to avoid responsibility” for her crimes. (We also promise, that we wil not let you to avoid responsibility of 6 years of her secret imprisonment and torture).
Ms. Siddiqui was taken into custody last July in Afghanistan after she was found loitering outside a provincial governor’s compound with suspicious items in her handbag, the authorities have said. The items included handwritten notes that referred to a “mass casualty attack,” and listed landmarks like the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, an indictment says. While she was being held, the indictment charges, she picked up an unsecured rifle and fired at least two shots toward a member of an American team of F.B.I. agents and military personnel who were about to question her. No one was hit. She was charged with attempted murder and other charges, and has pleaded not guilty.
Posted by truth4justice 
Truth 4 Justice 