Pakistani suspect interrupts N.Y. hearing
NEW YORK - A Pakistani woman charged with trying to kill American interrogators in Afghanistan made several outbursts at a hearing held yesterday to determine whether she is mentally fit to stand trial.
Aafia Siddiqui, 37, who the US government says has suspected links to Al Qaeda, interrupted the hearing where psychiatrists and mental health experts gave differing opinions on her mental state.
“Please take me seriously; I am not psychotic,’’ Siddiqui said in interrupting a doctor’s testimony. At times she spoke loudly and gestured to those around her while several doctors were questioned.
“I did not shoot anybody and I am really not against America,’’ she said before adding that “the wars are a misunderstanding’’ and that America “has been framed.’’
Prosecutors say Siddiqui, an MIT graduate and a trained neuroscientist, grabbed a US warrant officer’s rifle while she was detained for questioning in Afghanistan and fired it at the interrogation team, which included two FBI agents. The warrant officer then shot her with his pistol. During the hearing, Thomas Kucharski, a psychologist called by Siddiqui’s defense lawyers, said she had delusions, including that the judge and her own lawyer were part of a conspiracy against her. 