WASHINGTON: A US judge has granted Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s legal team access to new and confidential evidence that may bolster a clemency request for her alleged attack on US personnel.
The order, issued by US District Judge Richard M. Berman, permits Siddiqui’s lawyers to review important discovery materials from 2009, subject to strict conditions due to concerns that the information “could… pose a threat to public safety and national security” if improperly disclosed.
Clive Stafford Smith, one of Siddiqui’s attorneys advocating for her release, expressed optimism about the newly uncovered material, stating he had obtained “compelling new evidence about the ‘Black Site’ where Aafia was held after her time in the Bagram isolation cells.”
In a separate action, Smith filed a 56,600-word clemency petition aimed at highlighting the complexities and injustices of Siddiqui’s case.
The legal team based their motion on a statute allowing individuals in federal custody to challenge their conviction or sentence on specific grounds, including violations of the US Constitution or federal law, lack of jurisdiction by the sentencing court, or sentences that exceed legal limits.
This motion is typically submitted to the court that issued the original sentence and serves as a post-conviction remedy similar to a federal habeas corpus petition, specifically for federal prisoners.
Additionally, the motion references another statute that provides a mechanism for reducing a federal inmate’s sentence for compassionate reasons, such as serious health conditions or other “extraordinary and compelling reasons.”
