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1000s of Aafia supporters hold demo in Islamabad
 [Iran Press TV Latest] Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the Pakistani capital Islamabad to demand the release of Dr. Afia Siddiqui, who is currently in prison in the United States. Demonstrators chanted anti-US slogans and set an effigy of US President Barack Obama on fire during the rally on Sunday. Activists gathered to protest against her sham trial in a US court, in which the Pakistani scientist was found guilty of attempting to kill US military personnel and FBI agents. Liaquat Baloch, an opposition figure and the senior leader of Jamat-e-Islami, told the Press TV correspondent in Islamabad that the Pakistani government should cut supply lines to the allied forces stationed in Afghanistan if the US does not release Siddiqui. Relatives of Siddiqui have strongly criticized the US justice system for its ruling. "The whole war on terror is a fraud. Public sentiments are very high and they are at a brink and at any time can get out of control," Aafia Siddiqui's sister Fauzia told Press TV during the demonstration. The absence of credible evidence in Siddiqui's case has outraged many Pakistanis and other members of the Islamic ummah, who feel she was railroaded. A US court found Aafia Siddiqui guilty of attempting to murder US citizens while she was detained for questioning in Afghanistan. Siddiqui was charged with shooting at FBI agents and US military personnel in a police station in Ghazni, where she was being interrogated in 2008. She was convicted in a New York court on February 3, 2010. Her lawyers argued that there was no evidence to show Siddiqui ever fired the weapon presented in court. Siddiqui vehemently denied all the charges against her during the trial, calling them 'ridiculous' and insisting that she was framed, jailed, and tortured by US agents in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Posted by: Fred 2010-02-22 |
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