Updated on
Summary
A federal court in New York City is set to hold a hearing today to determine whether Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuro-scientist who is in US custody on terrorism charges, is competent to stand trial. Ms. Siddiqui was arrested and brought to New York in August last year for allegedly attempting to kill US personnel while in detention in Afghanistan. The FBI said she was picked up from outside the governors office in Ghazni and she was shot at twice in the encounter. Later, Ms. Siddiqui was sent to the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, on the orders of Judge Richard Berman for psychological evaluation when her defence lawyers pleaded that she was unfit to stand trial. They cited the conclusions of an expert who found she is suffering from delusional disorder and depression. The detainee was shifted back to New York on June 17 after the completion of her examinations in Texas and placed in a high security prison in Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. Ahead of todays hearing, an American news agency circulated the report of a psychologist, appointed by the prosecutors, who examined Ms. Siddiqui.
