International Breaking News

The court on Monday upheld the conviction of Dr Aafia Siddiqui accused of trying to kill US troops and FBI agents in Afghanistan four years ago.


Aafia Siddiqui, who trained as a scientist in the US, was sentenced to 86 years in prison after she was convicted of grabbing a US soldier s M-4 assault rifle and trying to shoot a group of Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and soldiers at an Afghan police compound in July 2008.

The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said a lower court judge had not made a mistake in allowing Aafia Siddiqui, 40, to testify in her own defense at trial and in allowing certain evidence against her.

On appeal, her attorneys challenged her conviction and sentence on many grounds. They said the judge improperly allowed jurors to consider the crumpled notes, and that the judge should never have allowed Siddiqui to decide whether to take the stand.

“The district court went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that Siddiqui understood the implications of testifying and had the capacity to testify,” the opinion said.

The appeals court also sided with lower court in finding that Siddiqui had likely premeditated the attack, and that terrorism sentencing requirements were applicable because of her willingness to harm Americans.