Will Aafia be released on December 17?" I asked in the previous post a week before the recent hearing. Against all odds, I speculated that she was unlikely to be released on that date. Against all odds, it turned out to be so.
This is not a test of the US legal system anymore. Through this trial, that system has already been tested and found to be wanting - see a detailed analysis published by People's Resistance - Here
). The writing on the wall now invites every self-respecting individual to arrive at an independent, objective judgement. It is not about a woman and her children anymore. Now it's about your self-respect.
Whether or not you are interested shouldn't depend on your interest in human rights alone. Now it has to depend on whether or not you want sanity and reason to prevail in this world.
Here are the bare essentials:
* US authorities were accused of kidnapping a woman along with her three minor children, keeping the woman in illegal detention for five years where she was reported to have been raped and tortured. Internationally reputed organizations sent petitions to US President.
* US authorities finally admitted of having that woman in their custody but prevented her from giving evidence by prosecuting her on the basis of a counter-allegation.
The charge against Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is only this: she picked up an M4 rifle while in custody, and randomly fired two rounds on US military personnel. Please remember that no other allegation has been brought against her in the court.
Impartial experts says that this story is not theoretically viable. Yet, on the basis of such an absurd accusation, a victim has been turned into accused and given over in to the custody of the party originally accused of raping her and abducting her children. For one reason or the other, her detention is being prolonged and the absurdity of the allegation against her is not being tested in the court.
See the problem? It's an insult to intelligence - your intelligence. You may ask whether Aafia is innocent or not, and I shall address that question in the next post, but please, in the meanwhile, kindly spread the word. People across the world need to know about this case and arrive at their own independent judgment. If you think that this blog can help, then please pass on this address to others.
Khurram Ali Shafique
Don't remain silent, Dr. Shafique says, please post your comment at About Aafia Blog on his blog - Here where you will also find other links to this case...
and/or on this blog in Comments just below (there is now no need to sign up nor in to do so (ignore the prompt if this happens on my blog - Connie)
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