US judge rejects Aafia’s objections to defence team
* Rules she would have to be represented by lawyers already appointed by District Court
NEW YORK: Setting aside Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui’s objections over her legal defence team at a pre-trial session, a US judge has ruled that she would have to be represented by lawyers already appointed by the US District Court.
Dr Aafia is scheduled to stand trial on January 19 – on charges of the attempted murder of US interrogators in Afghanistan last year – after Judge Richard Berman declared her mentally fit to stand trial.
She argued before Judge Berman on Tuesday that she did not need the three lawyers retained by the Pakistan government to defend her, saying she wanted to make peace and knew how to do it.
Dr Aafia made that plea at what is called “Status Conference”, which is held to clear the decks for a trial. The session involved Judge Berman, Dr Aafia, her defence team and prosecutors.
The lawyers, retained by the government of Pakistan, are Linda Moreno, Elaine Sharp and Charles Swift, who were cleared by the court on September 2.
The judge briefed the conference on his discussions with Dr Aafia at a one-and-a-half-hour closed-door session in which her lawyers were also present. app
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| Monday, October 10, 2005
