Dr Aafia Siddiqui - Why the US Don't Want Her Released with Clive Stafford Smith

You can write to Dr Aafia via her lawyer on email clive@3dc.org.uk . The deadline for the first round of letters is 1/8/23 - you can still send letters after this date for future visits. Please place in the subject of the email: Thinking Muslim letter for Aafia.

Clive has set up a crowdfunding page for a monthly standing order/debit for Aafia; this is to pay for a young Pakistani researcher to help on the case and to fund the trips to the US etc. Use -  https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/....p/freeaafia/backers#

Although the war on terror is now a distant memory to many Americans, it’s horrible residue remains. The incarceration of Aafia Siddiqui, a brilliant academic and mother of three, has become a symbol of its excesses, of which there were many. She languishes in prison, serving an 86-year sentence for an offence that looks barely credible, the attempted murder of two US officials in Afghanistan in 2008. Her whereabouts before that date remain murky, and so does the welfare of her youngest son Suleman – who has not been seen since her detention in 2003.

To help us unpick the facts, we have invited Aafias lawyer Clive Stafford Smith to shed light on what happened to Aafia and her children. Clive has helped secure the release of 86 prisoners from Guantánamo Bay and still acts for the remaining numbers. Since the early days of the War on Terror, he has worked tirelessly to force the Americans and other Western powers to adhere to the rule of law. He has sought to uncover the secret prisons and ghost prisoners that stain the reputation of powerful states – who presented their wars in benevolent terms.

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The Thinking Muslim Podcast Episode 102

Timestamps

00:00 Opening Clip
00:23 Introduction
01:43 The dissonance between the West and the Muslim world
03:12 Background information about Aafia
06:24 The abductors breaking into Aafia and her family in 2003
09:32 Aafia’s son Ahmed Hasan being taken from his mother and put in prison
10:08 Aafia’s daughter being taken from her mother and adopted by an American family
10:56 Aafia’s arrest
11:53 The role of Pakistan in the rendition of Aafia
13:13 President Musharraf’s confession
13:58 America's claims of Aafia between 2003 and 2008
16:20 The life of Aafia’s children after the arrest
20:45 Suleman, Aafiaa’s youngest child
21:31 Rendition and ghost prisoners
26:23 Why the Americans wanted Aafia?
27:48 Aafiya’s release in 2008 and the claim
31:43 Why was Aafia not charged with terrorism by the prosecutors?
33:58 Aafia’s state of mind after the trials
35:55 Fouzia meeting Aafia in prison
39:27 Does Aafia know what happened to her children?
41:00 Pakistani government's attempts to repatriate Aafia?
45:33 How can Muslims around the world help Aafia?
48:45 How American Muslims can help
50:53 Clive's motivations
51:48 Is there hope for Aafia being released?
52:21 Clive and the Quran