Washington: The White House has received a clemency petition asking for the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who is serving an 86-year sentence in the United States. Before his term ends on January 20, advocates are pleading with President Joe Biden to free her, according to Washington-based sources who spoke to Dawn.
Recently, a delegation from Pakistan traveled to the US under the leadership of Senator Bushra Anjum Butt to promote Siddiqui’s release on humanitarian grounds. Psychiatrist Dr. Iqbal Afridi and Senator Talha Mehmood were among the group.
As part of this strategy, they met with US legislators and officials as directed by the Islamabad High Court.
The delegation met with US lawmakers in Washington, including Senator Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat from Karachi, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and Congressman Jim McGovern, the chair of a House committee. They also met Elizabeth Horst, the principal deputy assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia.
Recently, a delegation from Pakistan traveled to the United States to urge her release on humanitarian grounds.
The team discussed possible legal options during these sessions and emphasized how urgent it is to seek Siddiqui’s clemency. Dawn was informed by members of the Pakistani-American community who organized the visit that the White House had received the clemency plea.
One neighborhood member stated, “We hope President Biden will make a decision before handing over power to Donald Trump on January 20.” “We’re crossing our fingers.”
At the Federal Medical Centre, Carswell, in Fort Worth, Texas, a facility for female prisoners in need of specialized medical and mental health care, the group also paid a visit to Dr. Siddiqui. The three-hour meeting featured Dr. Iqbal Afridi, a psychiatrist.
Senator Talha Mehmood told reporters that the meeting with Siddiqui was “encouraging.” “President Biden has over 60 pardon requests on his desk, including Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s,” he said with excitement. We hope the president would give her case top priority and give it sympathetic consideration.
In certain of its interactions, the team also received assistance from the US-based Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA).
Senator Bushra Anjum Butt, who met with Senator Chris Van Hollen, explained that the visit was a part of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s “sustained diplomatic effort” to achieve Siddiqui’s release. In October 2024, he had previously written to President Biden, requesting pardon for Siddiqui on humanitarian grounds because of her failing health. “I humbly ask that you use your power as the head of the United States to grant clemency to Aafia Siddiqui and secure her release on compassionate grounds,” Sharif wrote in his letter.
Siddiqui, who was born in Karachi, arrived in the US on a student visa in 1990. As an undergraduate at MIT, she was active in the Muslim Students Association and graduated with a doctorate in neuroscience from Brandeis University.
Media sources suggest that Siddiqui raised funding for a group eventually affiliated to Al Qaeda. She divorced her first husband and wed Ammar al-Baluchi, a nephew of the suspected 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, after she returned to Pakistan in 2002.
After Mohammed was apprehended in 2003, Siddiqui was accused of being an Al Qaeda courier and vanished after the FBI sent out a worldwide alert. She was allegedly found in possession of cyanide and paperwork mentioning US landmarks when she was captured in Afghanistan in 2008. She was shot after allegedly grabbing a US officer’s firearm and opening fire while being questioned. She was found guilty and given an 86-year prison term in 2010, which provoked protests throughout Pakistan, where she is revered by many as a symbol of defiance against perceived injustices.
“Could we see Imran Khan supporters call on the incoming Trump administration to propose to Pakistan an Imran Khan/Aafia Siddiqui release deal?” asked Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, in a Twitter comment.
