Dr Aafia fails to receive presidential pardon from Joe Biden

Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui, who has been held in a US prison for over 20 years, did not receive a presidential pardon from former President Joe Biden before he left office, making way for Donald Trump to assume the presidency.

According to reports, former US President Joe Biden granted clemency to at least five convicted individuals on his last day in office, however, Dr Aafia was not among them.

A White House spokesperson stated that the ex-president also changed the sentence of two other convicted individuals.

White House shared a press release on Sunday, quoting US President Joe Biden, stating that “America is a country built on the promise of second chances. I am exercising my clemency power to pardon five individuals and commute the sentences of 2 individuals who have demonstrated remorse, rehabilitation, and redemption.”

The five individuals pardoned by President Biden were Darryl Chambers, Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Ravidath Ragbir, Don Leonard, and Kemba Smith.

Earlier on Saturday, Dr Aafia Siddiqui expressed hope for a presidential pardon from US President Joe Biden before leaving his office, and Donald Trump assumes the presidency.

A US-based News Sky had quoted Dr Aafia, saying “I hope I am not forgotten, and I hope that one day soon I will be released," she told Sky News, through her lawyer.

"I am... a victim of injustice, pure and simple. Every day is torture... it is not easy."

She added: "One day, Inshallah (God-willing), I will be released from this torment."

It is pertinent to mention here that the CIA accused Dr Aafia Siddiqui of operating for Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, and she was the only woman who went through an extraordinary rendition torture programme in the 2000 early. 

Extraordinary rendition is a process where detainees are transferred to a secret place or a third country for interrogation. 

In 2010, a US judge said that “there is no credible evidence in the record that the US officials detained Dr Aadia; however, News Sky quoted Stafford Smith, saying US intelligence "got the wrong end of the stick in the beginning" as agencies thought Dr Siddiqui was a nuclear physicist working on a radioactive bomb "when she did her PhD in education".