The frame-up of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui

In solidarity with Dr Aafia Siddiqui, supporters packed New York’s Federal Court in Manhattan Feb. 10 to hear an appeal of the 39-year-old who was sentenced on Sept 23, 2010.

She has been held in total isolation at Carswell Federal Prison since her sentencing 18 months ago.

In March 2003, Dr. Siddiqui was kidnapped with her three young children in Karachi, Pakistan, and held in secret detention by U.S. forces at Bagram Prison in Afghanistan for five years.

She was charged with attempting to shoot U.S. interrogators in Afghanistan in 2008. No one was injured except Dr. Siddiqui, who was shot in the stomach, and no material evidence was found that she handled a gun.

Dr. Siddiqui was brought to New York for a highly publicized trial where the media labeled her a “terrorist.” Throughout the trial she continued to maintain that she was tortured and secretly held in Afghanistan. She has refused to accept her lawyers or the U.S. court’s right to try her.

Her case has wide international support, and in Pakistan she is considered a Daughter of the Nation. There is an international call for her repatriation to Pakistan. To sign a petition demanding her repatriation, visit tinyurl.com/7dlmsgh.