‘One day, I’ll be free from this torture,” says Dr Aafia as she awaits presidential pardon

Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui, currently in US custody, expressed hope for a presidential pardon from US President Joe Biden before he leaves office and Donald Trump assumes the presidency.

According to British broadcaster Sky News, Dr Siddiqui’s lawyers conveyed her messages to the media.

"I am a victim of injustice. Every day is painful. It is not easy," she said. Adding, "Inshallah, one day I will be free from this torture."

Dr Aafia’s lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, urged President Biden to grant her clemency and presented a 76,500-word dossier in support of her case.

President Biden, whose term concludes on Monday when Donald Trump will be sworn in, has so far granted 39 pardons and commuted the sentences of 3,989 individuals.

Siddiqui’s family and legal team hope her case will be added to that list.

Clive Stafford Smith claimed that Dr Siddiqui was initially implicated as a suspect due to errors in intelligence.

He alleged that during her visit to Pakistan in 2003, Dr Siddiqui and her three children were detained by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies and handed over to the CIA. From there, they were allegedly taken to Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.

The lawyer further stated that US intelligence had mistakenly identified Dr Siddiqui as a nuclear physicist involved in creating radioactive bombs. In reality, he clarified, she holds a PhD in education.

The US Department of Justice declined to comment on the allegations, while the CIA has yet to respond to the new claims presented by Dr Siddiqui’s legal team.

Smith also alleged that Dr Siddiqui was subjected to extraordinary interrogations at secret locations and became part of the CIA’s controversial torture program in the early 2000s.

During her 2010 trial, the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to confirm Dr Siddiqui had been arrested or detained prior to 2008.

Clive Stafford Smith, who previously secured the release of 69 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, described Dr Siddiqui’s case as the "worst" he has encountered.