|
World News |
|
|
|
|
Sport News |
|
|
|
Archive |
-
April, 2013
-
March, 2013
-
February, 2013
-
January, 2013
-
December, 2012
-
November, 2012
-
October, 2012
-
September, 2012
-
August, 2012
-
July, 2012
|
|
|
|
|
Aafia didn’t shoot at US agents, no fingerprints on gun: Defence lawyer |
|
|
|
|
NEW YORK, Jan 12 (APP) “A lawyer for Aafia Siddiqui, the Pakistani neuroscientist accused of shooting at FBI agents in Afghanistan, told a pre-trial hearing on Monday that the defence team rejected the charge since there were no fingerprints or other forensic evidence that she even picked up the gun. “We’re not saying she did it in self-defence. We’re not saying it was an accident. We’re saying she simply did not do it,” Defence attorney Linda Moreno told U.S. District Judge Richard Berman ahead of Ms. Siddiqui’s trial on January 19.
At a previous pre-trial hearing, Ms. Siddiqui, 37, had also forcefully
denied the charge. “I didn’t fire any bullets,” she had told the court.
“I am innocent of all the charges and I can prove it, but I will not do
it in this court.”
Meanwhile, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher La Vigne Christopher
Levine made it clear that the government will not argue that Ms.
Siddiqui was a member of Al-Qaeda, Taliban or any other terrorist
organization.
Lawyer Moreno argued that a jury, which will be selected on Wednesday,
should only consider whether Ms. Siddiqui fired a weapon not her
motive.
Under questioning from the judge, the lawyer indicated that the defence
would question the credibility of the eye-witnesses that the
prosecution will call to testify in support of the charge.
Since the very beginning, Ms. Siddiqui has said that she has no
confidence in the American judicial system or the lawyers appointed for
her by the court—even those retained by the government of Pakistan—and
that she wants to make peace and knows how to do it.
“They are not my attorneys,” Ms. Siddiqui said moments after being
escorted into a Manhattan courtroom Monday. “I have fired them many
times.” She later said: “There’s too many injustices in this court.”
Ms. Siddiqui is accused of grabbing a U.S. Army officer’s rifle during
an interrogation in Afghanistan in July 2008 and exchanging gunfire
with U.S. soldiers and FBI agents.
No American was hit, but she survived a gunshot wound to the stomach
and was brought to the United States in August to face federal charges
of attempted murder and assault.
On Monday, defence attorneys asked judge Berman to bar testimony and
evidence from Siddiqui’s capture in Afghanistan the day before the
shooting.
Prosecutors allege she was carrying a list naming the Stature of
Liberty and other New York landmarks, and notes about chemical and
biological weapons.
La Vigne, the government attorney, told the judge that the material
found on Siddiqui should be allowed as evidence to “provide context to
these events.” The judge said he would rule Wednesday morning before
jury selection begins.
|
|
|
|
|
Presidential address to the joint sitting of parliament |
|
|
|
News 
