PRESS RELEASE: JUDGE SENTENCES RAPE VICTIM TO 86 YEARS IN PRISON

Friday, 24 September 2010

PRESS RELEASE: JUDGE SENTENCES RAPE VICTIM TO 86 YEARS IN PRISON

September 23, 2010 posted by Gordon Duff ·

JFAC STATEMENT ON SENTENCING OF AAFIA SIDDIQUI

Editor’s note: “The entire staff of Veterans Today and her sister publications are outraged at Judge Berman’s abuses, not just in sentencing an innocent victim but in staging an unjust trial. Serving the United States with honor has now become much more difficult. Every American serving in Afghanistan is now facing new enemies because of this outrage. I can think of nothing that could have been done to endanger the United States more than the actions of this court.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
23 September 2010www.justiceforaafia.org

On the afternoon of 23rd September 2010 Pakistani neuroscientist and mother of three Aafia Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years on five charges by Judge Berman in a Manhattan courtroom.

The Justice for Aafia Coalition released the following statement:
“We are deeply saddened by the harsh sentence passed on Dr Aafia Siddiqui by Judge Richard Berman today. At such a difficult time, our thoughts and prayers are with Aafia’s family, who have been separated from her since March 2003.

It has now been over seven and a half years since Dr Siddiqui was abducted with her three young children by Pakistani and American agencies. She has since been separated from her children and family, detained in a series of secret prisons and physically and psychologically abused by her captors. Following a blatantly prejudiced and unfair trial in which little conclusive evidence of her guilt was presented, she was found guilty.
We hoped that Judge Berman would have opened his eyes to the manifest injustice that has been committed against Dr Siddiqui and repatriated her to her country. But it seems that Judge Berman was adamant in his position despite the enormous level of public support for Aafia. Last week, Iran, in a goodwill gesture, released Sarah Shourd, an American woman accused of espionage, a crime against the state punishable by death. We are disappointed that the United States has been unable to exercise a similar degree of mercy and leniency in the case of another innocent woman who stands accused of crimes against its government.
While we are disappointed by Judge Berman’s decision, we condemn in the strongest terms the stance of the Pakistani government towards this beloved daughter of the nation. While we must never look to the wolf for protection, we expect the shepherd to care for his flock. The Pakistani government has from the outset been complicit in Aafia’s disappearance and detention, and has displayed nothing but contempt for its people and dignity through its cowardly stance in requesting her repatriation. They are a stain upon the honourable reputation of the country.

JFAC will continue the struggle for justice for Dr Aafia to try and secure her freedom and unite her with her family and loved ones. We remind Aafia’s supporters that this struggle may seem tiresome but as Imam Ahmad advised his student, we will only find rest when our feet set foot in paradise.”

EVEN INDIA, LONGTIME FOE OF PAKISTAN, CONDEMNS U.S. ACTIONS IN THIS VIDEO: