The woman on trial for allegedly shooting at U.S. personnel in Afghanistan was thrown out of the courtroom again today. Aafia Siddiqui — who has urged a judge to use genetic testing to keep Jews off the jury and has repeatedly disrupted the case with dramatic outbursts — got the boot for shouting that her lawyers won't let her testify.
"If you follow the mercy of mankind...they want to take away my right to testify. I've asked for it," Siddiqui, who earlier this week promised to behave herself in court, told spectators. According to the Daily News she added: "I am not an enemy. I didn't shoot anyone. I can bring peace with Afghanistan and the Taliban in one day, God willing." The MIT- and Brandeis-educated scientist has sparred with her own lawyers and promised to "boycott" the trial. Siddiqui's lawyer said "[i]t remains to be seen" whether or not she will take the stand in her own defense.
According to prosecutors, in July 2008 Siddiqui grabbed an Army rifle and fired two rounds at intelligence and military personnel who were trying to question her about her possession of handwritten documents on weapon-making and lists of possible terror targets including the Brooklyn Bridge. She claims she was incarcerated five years earlier, held a secret prison. Siddiqui's defense team says she didn't fired the rifle, her fingerprints weren't found on the gun, and no bullets or fragments were recovered in the interrogation room where the shooting allegedly took place. An FBI ballistics expert has testified that the rounds traveled so fast they might have disintegrated on impact.
