Pakistani neuroscientist Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, who has been incarcerated in a US prison for over two decades, was not among those granted clemency by former US President Joe Biden before leaving office. Biden’s departure paved the way for Donald Trump to assume the presidency.
According to reports, President Biden issued pardons to five convicted individuals and commuted the sentences of two others on his final day in office. However, Dr. Siddiqui, who had hoped for a presidential pardon, was not included in the list.
In a statement released by the White House on Sunday, Biden reflected on the nation’s commitment to second chances, saying:
“America is a country built on the promise of second chances. I am exercising my clemency power to pardon five individuals and commute the sentences of two individuals who have demonstrated remorse, rehabilitation, and redemption.”
The five individuals pardoned by Biden were Darryl Chambers, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Ravidath Ragbir, Don Leonard, and Kemba Smith.
On Saturday, Dr. Siddiqui expressed hope for a pardon through her lawyer, saying, “I hope I am not forgotten, and I hope that one day soon I will be released. I am… a victim of injustice, pure and simple. Every day is torture… it is not easy.” She added, “One day, Inshallah (God-willing), I will be released from this torment.”
Dr. Siddiqui was accused by the CIA of operating for Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and is reportedly the only woman subjected to the agency’s extraordinary rendition program in the early 2000s. Extraordinary rendition involves transferring detainees to secret locations or third countries for interrogation.
In 2010, a US judge stated, “There is no credible evidence in the record that the US officials detained Dr. Aafia.” However, Stafford Smith, a lawyer familiar with the case, told News Sky that US intelligence initially misunderstood her background, believing she was a nuclear physicist working on a radioactive bomb, while she actually held a PhD in education.
The denial of clemency leaves Dr. Siddiqui’s future uncertain as her decades-long incarceration continues.
