NEW YORK - Pakistani scientist Aafia Siddiqui was sentenced to an 86-year prison term Thursday in federal court in New York City for attempting to kill U.S. soldiers and FBI agents in Afghanistan in 2008.
Siddiqui, whose conviction on terrorism charges last year was accompanied by questions about her mental state, gave two rambling soliloquies in court in which she denied mental illness, urged Muslims against committing any violence on her behalf, blamed Israel for global conflict and accused a prison official in New York of plotting a terrorist attack.
She closed by telling U.S. District Court Judge Richard Berman that she wants no appeals filed by her lawyers. "I appeal to God," Siddiqui, 38, said. "He hears me."
Siddiqui, a mother of three who was educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was arrested in 2008 by authorities in Afghanistan in possession of notes discussing possible terror attacks. When a U.S. team came to question her, she grabbed an M-4 machine gun and allegedly tried to shoot them before being shot and subdued.
Although some defense experts have said she is delusional and suffers from paranoid schizophrenia, Berman found her competent to stand trial. A jury in February found her guilty of attempted murder, assault and use of a firearm.
About 40 supporters appeared outside the courthouse. In the courtroom, one woman shouted "Shame! Shame!" at Berman when he announced the sentence.
NEWSDAY
