A meeting between Dr. Fowzia Siddiqui and her imprisoned sister, Aafia Siddiqui, at a United States prison was reportedly denied due to the prison authorities claiming to have lost the keys to the visitation cell.
Dr. Fowzia, along with Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam leader Talha Mahmood and British-American lawyer Clive Stafford Smith, had traveled to the U.S. for the meeting.
Despite their efforts, the Carswell authorities informed Dr. Fowzia that the meeting could not take place as the keys to the visitation room were lost. Stafford shared a photo of Dr. Fowzia outside the prison and mentioned that it was supposed to be the sisters’ second meeting in 20 years.
Jamat-e-Islami’s Senator Mushtaq Ahmad criticized the prison authorities’ excuse as ‘comical’ and condemned what he described as the ‘inhumane’ attitude of the jail officials.
Aafia Siddiqui is serving an 86-year sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell in Texas. Her case has been a source of controversy, with conflicting narratives about her arrest and charges.
The U.S. government claims she was arrested in Afghanistan after firing upon U.S. soldiers, while Amnesty International maintains that she was arrested in Afghanistan and suffered mistreatment during her detention.
Aafia Siddiqui, a graduate of MIT in cognitive neuroscience, gained attention after 9/11 for her activism in support of Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya. The controversy surrounding her escalated after the FBI questioned her about a suspicious purchase in 2002. She disappeared in 2003 and was later indicted on charges of attempted murder and assault in 2008, leading to her current prison sentence.
