ISLAMABAD/KARACHI (Web Desk) - Seeking Dr Aafia Siddiqui's release as she continues to languish in an American prison for several years, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has written a letter to United States President Joe Biden.
The letter addressing Biden was written on Oct 13 wherin the PM wrote about seeking the US president's role in the case that deserves to be reviewed with compassion, as Siddiqui remains incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Carswell in Texas.
She had been serving an 86-year sentence there, without the possibility of parole, imposed by the Southern District Court of New York.
"Afia, 52, has spent almost sixteen years in the US jail," PM Shehbaz wrote in the letter.
Dr Aafia, a Pakistani neuroscientist, was indicted by a New York federal district court in September 2008 on charges of attempted murder and assault, stemming from an incident during an interview with the US authorities in Ghazni, Afghanistan - charges that she denied.
After 18 months in detention, she was tried and convicted in early 2010 and sentenced to 86 years in prison. She has since been imprisoned in the US.
PM Shehbaz further mentioned that numerous Pakistani officials have paid consular visits to Siddiqui at the prison facility over the years and have raised "serious concerns about the treatment she has received".
The treatment meted out to her has severely impacted her "already fragile mental and frail physical health".
"In fact, they even fear that she could take her own life," the prime minister mentioned in the letter.
PM Shehbaz further praised Biden for passionately fighting for the rights of US citizens, particularly those stranded or held captive abroad.
So, the premier added, it is his "solemn duty" as Pakistan's premier to intervene when it becomes absolutely necessary to ensure a citizen’s well-being, particularly when the circumstances are as dire as they are in her case.
"Comprehending these facts, I request you, Mr President, to kindly exercise your constitutional authority and accept Dr Siddiqui’s clemency petition and order her release, strictly on humanitarian grounds," he wrote urging the American president to pardon the neuroscientist.
The prime minister added that he trusted Biden to accord the most serious consideration that the request deserves.
"Her family, and millions of my fellow citizens join me in seeking your blessings for a favorable outcome of this request," the prime minister wrote, concluding the letter.
Reacting to premier Shehbaz's letter, Clive Stafford Smith - American human rights lawyer who represents Dr Siddiqui — told a news channel that the letter is "very welcome and very heartfelt from the PM".
In June this year, Smith told reporters his client was being sexually harassed continuously at a jail in Fort Worth, Texas, adding that a security guard raped her two weeks ago as punishment.
"Sexual abuse of Dr Aafia has not stopped so far. She is being consistently subjected to physical harassment," he had disclosed after meeting her at the prison facility this summer.