NEW YORK-
Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who was found guilty of trying to kill Americans while being detained in Afghanistan slapped the feds with a lawsuit saying her 2010 conviction should be overturned because she was provided with lawyers she never authorized.
Aafia Siddiqui told the Manhattan federal court suit that she was wrongfully convicted without a fair trial in violation of her civil rights. She claims that she was forced to accept a team of defense lawyers that racked up a tab of at least $2 million and was paid for by the Pakistani government.
The lawyers “simply had no legal authority to take any action on her behalf,” the suit says.
Siddiqui, 42, was convicted of two counts of attempted murder, though the crime was not found by the jury to be premeditated. She was also found guilty of armed assault, using and carrying a firearm, and assault of US officers. Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years in prison and the conviction was upheld by an appellate panel in 2012.
The Pakistani neuroscientist, who the feds claimed was an al Qaeda associate, was arrested in 2008 carrying handwritten plans for a radioactive “dirty bomb” along with a list of New York landmarks.
Federal prosecutors said that when FBI agents went to question her, she picked up an unattended rifle and shot at them. They claim Siddiqui was wounded by return fire.
In court, Siddiqui veiled her face with a white scarf and often sat slumped in her chair. She openly sparred with the judge and her own lawyers, insisted she could bring peace to the Middle East. Despite claims that she was an al Qaeda sympathizer, Siddiqui was never charged with terrorism.
