Parliamentarians demand release of Dr Aafia

Parliamentarians march outside the parliament house condemning the sentencing of Dr Aafia and demanding her release.

ISLAMABAD: Parliamentarians belonging to the National Assembly and Senate marched outside the parliament house condemning the sentencing of Dr Aafia and demanded her release.

National Assembly's opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, JUI-F Chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Interior Minister Rehman Malik and Dr Atia Anayatullah participated in the march. Dr Aafia's sister Dr Fauzia was also among the participants. Chaudhry Nisar said the verdict of Dr Aafia's sentence should be challenged.

Dr Aafia cannot be repatriated: Rehman Malik

Interior Minister Rehman Malik revealed that as the neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui did not commit any crime in Pakistan, so the extradition law cannot be used.

A federal court in Manhattan on Thursday sentenced Dr Aafia Siddiqui to 86 years of imprisonment for the attempted murder of US officers in Afghanistan.

Malik said that Pakistan's goal is to bring back Dr Aafia Siddiqui and that the US court needs to reconsider her case.

Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, he said that the government has written a letter to US authorities regarding Dr Aafia.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Fauzia Siddiqui said she will only be satisfied when her sister returns to Pakistan.

The sentencing of the neuroscientist has received both criticism and demands for her repatriation have been made.