ISLAMABAD – Senator Bushra Anjum, who was a member of the Pakistani delegation, said a decision regarding the release of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui is expected before January 20, 2025.
She stated this after the delegation held a meeting with Siddqui, who has languishing in US jails for years, for almost three hours. Under the direction of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistani delegation is actively working for her release.
The delegation also met with US Congress members and officials from the State Department. Senator Bushra Anjum said that the discussions with US officials regarding Aafia Siddiqui’s release were positive.
She expressed hope that the US government will make a decision regarding Aafia Siddiqui’s release before January 20. She added that Aafia Siddiqui’s case has become an international human rights issue.
Last month, Dr Aafia Siddiqui filed a petition in a US federal court in Texas through her lawyers, accusing prison staff of severe violations of democratic and human rights.The allegations made in the petition included sexual assault, abuse, denial of medical care, and religious discrimination.
The petition had been filed against the US government, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and prison authorities.
Dr Aafia Siddiqui is currently serving an 86-year prison sentence in a Texas jail.
Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has written a letter to United States President Joe Biden seeking Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s release as she continues to languish in an American prison for several years.
The letter addressing Biden was written on Oct 13 wherein the Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif wrote about seeking the US president’s role in the case that deserves to be reviewed with compassion. “Afia, 52, has spent almost sixteen years in the US jail,” PM Shehbaz wrote in the letter.
Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif further mentioned that numerous Pakistani officials have paid consular visits to Siddiqui at the prison facility over the years and have raised “serious concerns about the treatment she has received”.
