Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday to Dr. Aafia Siddiqui’s family that the Government remains completely committed to providing all possible legal and diplomatic support in their case.
The prime minister conveyed this during a meeting with Dr. Fouzia Siddiqui, sister of Dr. Aafia, according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office on Friday.
The statement emphasized that the government is in no way negligent about the matter. In addition, he stressed that, under the instructions of the Prime Minister, diplomatic and legal assistance has already been extended.
In addition, the prime minister had written the then president of the United States, Joe Biden, to seek intervention in the case. A Committee was also formed by the Minister of Law, Azam Nazeer Tarar, to guarantee greater progress.
“The Committee will remain in close contact with Dr. Fouzia and will work to provide the necessary assistance,” the statement added.
Read too: Pakistan asks technology companies to stop the content of terror
Dr. Aafia, a Pakistani neuroscientist currently imprisoned in the United States, was sentenced to 86 years in prison for charges of murder attempt, a sentence that significantly exceeds the legal maximum of the United States of 10 years for the crime.
He has turned 16 after bars and has been separated from his sons for more than two decades.
According to the reports, Dr. Aafia was intercepted in Karachi in March 2003 while traveling with his three children and subsequently disappeared for five years. Later it was revealed in 2008 that it had been imprisoned in Afghanistan before being transferred to the United States.
While two of their children, Ahmed and Maryam, were released in 2008 and 2010 respectively, the whereabouts of their son Sulaiman is still unknown.
