DPM Dar says remarks on Aafia Siddiqui taken out of context

WASHINGTON (Dunya News ) - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said that his remarks regarding Dr Aafia Siddiqui were taken out of context, while reiterating his commitment to providing full support for her release.

Addressing the Atlantic Council in Washington on Saturday, Dar referenced Siddiqui’s case while responding to a question about the conviction of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. This led to significant criticism, including from her Siddiqui’s lawyer.

During the interview, while answering a question about former prime minister Imran Khan, the Foreign Minister said, “Pakistan did not interfere in the US judicial system at that time because the US authorities followed their judicial process. Similarly, Imran Khan was convicted by the Pakistani judiciary, and it was done in accordance with legal procedures. When legal processes are followed, others have no right to interfere.”

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Neuroscientist Siddiqui was sentenced in 2010 by a US court for attempting to murder US personnel in Afghanistan. She has been incarcerated at the Federal Medical Center, Carswell, in Texas since then.

Siddiqui’s lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, called Dar’s statement “foolish” the previous day.