ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has lodged a formal complaint with US authorities, the Pakistani foreign office said on Saturday, over the alleged assault last month of jailed neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui by a fellow inmate at a prison in Texas.
A 42-year-old mother of three with degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, Siddiqui is serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) in Carswell, after a New York court in 2010 convicted her on terrorism charges for attempting to shoot and kill in Afghanistan a group of US soldiers and FBI agents who wanted to interrogate her for alleged links to Al-Qaeda.
Last month, she was assaulted by a fellow inmate at the FMC, foreign office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in a statement.
"We lodged a formal complaint with the relevant US authorities to thoroughly investigate the matter and ensure the safety and well-being of Dr Siddiqui," he said.
"We learnt of an assault on Dr Afia Siddiqui by a fellow inmate at FMC Carswell on 30 July 2021," Chaudhri. "She had received some minor injuries but was doing fine."
He added that the Pakistani embassy in Washington DC and the consulate general in Houston continued making every effort "to ensure that Dr. Siddiqui is properly looked after during her incarceration at FMC Carswell."
Siddiqui was arrested in July 2008 by Afghan police, who said she was carrying 900 grams of sodium cyanide and crumpled notes referring to mass casualty attacks and New York landmarks.
One day after her arrest, as the FBI wanted to interrogate her, she grabbed an M-4 rifle in her interrogation room and shot at them. No one was hit, but Siddiqui was shot and wounded in response, according to US prosecutors.
On appeal in 2012, Siddiqui’s defense lawyers — some of whom were paid by the Pakistani government — argued their client had shot at the US officials in a panic and said the crime lacked any connection to terrorism.
The US appeals court upheld the conviction and said terrorism sentencing requirements were applicable because of her willingness to harm Americans.
