Pak Govt. hasn't provided funds for pleading Aafia's case

Karachi, Nov 22 : The Pakistan Government has still not provided the promised funds to Dr. Aafia Sidiqui's family to enable them to plead her case in the US court.

According to The News, Aafia's family was given repeated assurances from the government, but they have not been given any funds for hiring the services of a lawyer till now. The case is being heard in a Texas District Court.

They added that all the required information, including the name of the lawyer and the details of the probable legal expenses relating to the case, were sent to the government in August.

Earlier, Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani had demanded that "terror suspect" Dr. Aafia (put in a US jail and facing trial) should be immediately repatriated to Pakistan, after an American court found her "mentally" unfit to stand trial.

A US federal judge had stated that Siddiqui was mentally unfit to be tried in a court of law. At the hearing in New York, the judge referred to the government doctor's report declaring Dr. Aafia "mentally unfit" to stand trial while bringing it to the notice of the prosecution.

The prosecution responded that it would study the report and would ask for an independent assessment of the Pakistani prisoner's mental health.

The judge then set December 17 as the next date of hearing.

Dr. Aafia's defence lawyer was present in the court, as was an official from the Pakistan consulate-general in New York.

ANI