Prosecution’s final witness again said that Dr Aafia grabbed the chief warrant officer’s M-4 rifle, and fired at US officials at the Afghan National Police headquarters on July 18, 2008.
Dr Aafia was not removed from the court on Tuesday, but right before the judge dismissed jurors for lunch, she got up and declared, “That’s it! I’m going to boycott. I’m not coming here again. Bye, Bye””
After a closing statement by the prosecution, Dr Aafia’s defence team is expected to start putting its witnesses on the stand on Wednesday. It will also show a two-hour video to the jurors in support of their case that Dr Aafia is not guilty of any wrongdoing.
According to court officials, the process would be completed by Friday and the jury would go into deliberations next week to prepare the verdict.
US District Judge Richard Berman told the court after eight hours of proceedings that the trial was very much on schedule. The prosecution has produced 18 witnesses since Jan 19, when the trial began.
The defence team sent a letter to Judge Berman on Tuesday requesting him not ask Dr Aafia to testify on her own behalf because of her “severe mental illness.”
Defence lawyer Linda Moreno said the defendant “refused to speak with us” and runs the “risk of prejudicing herself in the eyes of the jurors” if she took the stand.
“We feel it is our duty under relevant ethical rules to take protective action to safeguard her interests,” the letter said.
The defence team’s move came after the judge had rejected a prosecution request to ban Dr Aafia coming to the trial. At that stage, the judge said that she had the right to remain at her trial.
He also said that every possible effort had been made to ensure a fair trial, citing various steps. But Dr Aafia retorted: “I respectfully would like to say that you are lying.”
The defendant is accused of shooting at US Army and FBI agents in Afghanistan two years ago. No one was hit in that incident, but a US Army officer shot her twice in the stomach.
Her family spokesman Tina Foster also backed the move by three lawyers retained by the Pakistan government, saying they’re also worried about Dr Aafia’s mental state.
“The Aafia whom we know and love is not the same rational and focussed Aafia who we see in this courtroom,” said her brother Muhammad Siddiqui.
The judge is expected to rule on whether she can testify before the defence begins presenting its case to the jury on Wednesday.
During the proceedings, defence lawyer again brought out contradictions in the testimonies offered by prosecution witnesses during cross-examinations. An Afghan interpreter working with the US Army in Afghanistan was flown in all the way here to give his version of the July 18, 2008, shooting incident in Ghazni.
Source:dawn.com/
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