Outbursts by Terror Suspect at a Competency Hearing

Source: New York Times

Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist accused of trying to kill American soldiers and F.B.I. agents in Afghanistan, repeatedly interrupted a hearing on Monday about her competency to stand trial. She declared in a series of rambling, often disjointed outbursts that she had not shot anyone and was not against the United States.

“I didn’t fire any bullets,” she said at one point.

“I’m really not against America. I never was. I still am not,” she said later.

During the hearing in Federal District Court in Manhattan, psychological experts differed on whether Ms. Siddiqui had faked symptoms of mental illness or suffered from a genuine mental disorder, and if she was competent to stand trial.

But as the experts vied to talk about her mental state, it was Ms. Siddiqui who seemed to be most intent on getting in the first and last words, and many in between.

“I’m not psychotic — I can assure you I am not,” she said in a discourse after the cross-examination of a psychologist who had concluded that she was suffering from mental illness and was not competent to stand trial.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/07/nyregion/07competency.html?ref=global-home

This is the lady who was shot while in custody.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aafia_Siddiqui

Here, it is usually the defense attorney claiming the defendant is
not competent. It avoids a trial, but the defendant remains in custody
and may be subject to involuntary treatment of various kinds
(psychotropic drugs, shock treatment...)

We could of course wonder why the government is
turning the law on its head to challenge her competence, but then
in light of a bungled "war on terror" (which had nothing at all
to do with terrorists and was actually intended to terrorize
populations into accepting a police state by arresting
and torturing 'confessions' out of political enemies) it all
begins to seem pretty obvious. n'est pas?

I'd start with hanging 2/3 of the CIA. No, start with 2/3 of the
politicians. No... oh, crap... where to begin???? How about the
Bush Administration? Bushco. Hey, its a start!