Religious
students in Pakistan protest the conviction of a U.S.-trained
Pakistan
nuclear scientist, who is thought to have links to al-Qaeda.
The Nation, Pakistan
Siddiqui Verdict
Shows Folly of American Justice
"The
U.S. justice system is supposed to be one of the things for which the War on
Terror is being fought. Dr. Aafia Siddiqui's trial, however, shows it, particularly its much-vaunted trial by jury, as
defective."
Protests broke out across Pakistan, after the conviction in a New York court of Aafia Siddiqui, a neuroscientist thought by the U.S. to be tied to Al-Qaeda.
The verdict in the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui has demonstrated
to all and sundry the flawed nature of the American justice system, particularly
its much-vaunted trial by jury, which is supposedly incorruptible and leads to
the rule of law. The U.S. justice system is supposed to be one of the things
for which the War on Terror is being fought. Dr. Siddiqui's trial, however,
shows it as defective. It allows the fate of a human being to be placed in the
hands of a jury of his or her peers - a jury that may be influenced by affairs
of state. Composed of laypeople, the American jury very much depends on a
summing up by a judge, who is meant to be a legal professional and thus likely
to be influenced by the type of affairs of state at work in Dr. Siddiqui's case.
The fact that affairs of state are too often an excuse to avoid embarrassing a blundering
civil servant is yet another matter.
[Editor's Note: According to Wikipedia and The
New York Times, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, born 1972 in Karachi, Pakistan, is
a Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University trained neuroscientist. She is accused of
being a member of al-Qaeda and assaulting with a deadly weapon and attempting
to kill U.S. troops and FBI agents who sought to interrogate her while she was
in custody. After three days of deliberations on February 2, a jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan found her guilty of all seven counts against her, including attempted murder. She faces life in prison when she is
sentenced in May.]
One consequence of the Siddiqui
case is that anti-American sentiment has jumped in a country that has never
been as pro-American as its government has shown itself to be by its obsequious
cooperation. For many Pakistanis, the Siddiqui case has revealed the limits of American
rule of law and the U.S. justice system. That Pakistanis didn't expect Dr. Siddiqui
to receive a fair trial is also a negative comment on Pakistan's justice system,
where affairs of state that don't lead to a fair trial abound, and even though in
Pakistan the system depends on judgments by professionals - not amateurs. Furthermore,
the case has also shown that Pakistanis, even if they hold a doctorate from one
of the America's leading universities, can't expect a fair trial even at the
hands of a jury. Or rather - especially at the hands of a jury.
In Pakistan, the case is assuming
the nature of a cause célèbre, and is being called Pakistan's own Dreyfus case. There are
many differences in the two situations, the biggest being the divisiveness of
the Dreyfus case - and the lack thereof in this one. While the case of Dr. Siddiqui
hasn't divided Pakistani society, the Dreyfus case divided France between Catholic
and non-Catholic, liberal and conservative, and clerical and anti-clerical. The
lack of Pakistani confidence that Dr. Siddiqui is guilty of the crimes she is
accused of and that she received a fair trial should indicate to Washington
that, so far at least, it has lost the battle for Pakistani hearts and minds.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
A French-Jewish artillery officer, Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly convicted of treason in 1894 and recieved a life sentence until his innocence was proven and he was released in 1896.
[Editor's Note: Alfred Dreyfus [photo left] was a
French military officer and a Jew, who was accused of being a German spy. Dreyfus'
treatment was the single biggest reason cited by Theodor
Herzl for promoting the idea of a Jewish homeland, an idea called Zionism. Sentenced
to life imprisonment for allegedly having communicated French military secrets
to the German Embassy in Paris, Dreyfus was sent to Devil's Island in French
Guiana. In the case of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, she faces
life in prison and, according to many Pakistanis, was innocent. But while the Dreyfus case divided French society, the author points out that the Siddiqui case unites Pakistanis.]
