Metro

Pakistani neuroscientist sues feds over murder conviction

An MIT-trained Pakistani woman who was found guilty of trying to kill Americans while being detained in Afghanistan slapped the feds with a lawsuit Monday saying her 2010 conviction should be overturned because she was provided with lawyers she never authorized.

The tirade-prone Aafia Siddiqui alleges in the Manhattan federal court suit that she wrongfully convicted without a fair trial in violation of her civil rights. She claims she was forced to accept a team of defense lawyers that racked up a tab of at least $2 million and was paid for by the Pakistani government.

The lawyers “simply had no legal authority to take any action on her behalf,” the suit says.

Aafia Siddiqui is seen in the custody of the Counter Terrorism Department of Ghazni province in Ghazni City, Afghanistan.AP

Siddiqui, 42, was convicted of two counts of attempted murder, though the crime was not found by the jury to be premeditated. She was also found guilty of armed assault, using and carrying a firearm, and assault of US officers.

Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years in prison and the conviction was upheld by an appellate panel in 2012.

The Pakistani neuroscientist, who the feds claimed was an al Qaeda associate, was arrested in 2008 carrying handwritten plans for a radioactive “dirty bomb” along with a list of New York landmarks.

Fowzia Siddiqui, sister Aafia Siddiqui, protests during a demonstration marking International Women’s Day in 2011.AFP/Getty Images

Federal prosecutors said that when FBI agents went to question her, she picked up an unattended rifle and shot at them. They claim Siddiqui was wounded by return fire.

In court, Siddiqui veiled her face with a white scarf and often sat slumped in her chair. She openly sparred with the judge and her own lawyers, insisted she could bring peace to the Middle East.

Despite claims that she was an al Qaeda sympathizer, Siddiqui was never charged with terrorism.