Female scientist guilty of attempted murder
Female scientist guilty of attempted murder
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By Matt Hallam. |  |
Thursday, 04, Feb 2010 09:43
By Richard James.
A female Pakistani scientist has been found guilty of attempting to kill a number of US agents in Afghanistan in 2008.
Neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui, who was trained in America, was convicted of two charges of attempted murder on Wednesday. She could now be sentenced to life in prison.
The prosecution in her trial claimed the 37-year-old fired upon the US agents while she was being detained for questioning in Afghanistan. While none of the Americans were injured in the alleged shooting, they returned fire and Siddiqui was injured.
Her trial has led to criticism from some human rights groups after she alleged she had been kidnapped and held in secret US prisons for five years.
Prosecutors claim she was arrested on suspicion on carrying chemicals and notes referring to "mass casualty attacks" on American soil.
On Wednesday she was found guilty of attempted murder, armed assault, plus using and carrying a firearm. The jury decide the attempted murder had not been premeditated.
As the verdict was read out at the court in Manhattan, Siddiqui shouted out: "This is a verdict coming from Israel, not America."
She had maintained her innocence throughout the trial, with her defence team claiming there was no forensic evidence the rifle in question had ever been fired.
Questions remain though over her whereabouts between 2003, when she to Pakistan from the US to Pakistan, and her arrest in 2008, with Siddiqui maintaining she held in secret prisons.