Islamabad: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) Monday directed the federal government to arrange a meeting of family members with Aafia Siddiqui, and also appraised the court within seven days regarding her health who is undergoing 86 years imprisonment in the US for attempted murder.
A single bench of IHC comprising Justice Noor-ul- Haq N Qureshi also directed the government to submit weekly report regarding its effort to provide legal and other assistance to Aafia.
Aafia’s sister , Dr Fouzia Siddiqui, has filed the petition last year in October primarily seeking directions for the government to increase its efforts for the release of her sister, secondly for arranging meetings with the family members and thirdly that Ministry of Foreign Affairs keep updating family of Aafia in US about her physical and mental health.
The government due to its “lethargic” approach did not take up the issue “in letter and in spirit”.
Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist, studied at Boston’s prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and was doing a PhD in neuroscience at Brandeis University.
She is serving an 86-year prison sentence in the United States for alleged attack on the US soldiers in Afghanistan. On February 25, Raja Khalid Mehmood, a deputy attorney general (DAG), representing the Federal government, said during her trial in the US. The government has facilitated few meetings of Aafia with her family members since 2011.