Zeenews Bureau
New York: A US federal judge on Wednesday barred prosecutors from linking Pakistani neuroscientist, Aafia Siddiqi, to fundamentalist al Qaeda outfit or any other terrorist organisation during her trial slated to commence on January 19.
The ruling came as Siddiqi told the court that she was "boycotting" the trial because of "many injustices".
During the jury selection for her trial, Siddiqi refused to work with defence lawyers and told District Judge Richard Berman, "They're not my attorneys. I have fired them many times."
On Monday, the prosecution had informed the court that it would not challenge any ruling which absolved the Pakistani scientist of any terrorist links.
However, District Judge Richard Berman has now issued a ruling, stating that any handwritten material, not the printed ones, seized from Siddiqi’s possession would be termed as evidence.
The Judge further ruled that forensic evidence from fingerprint experts would be admitted.
37-year-old Siddiqui, a specialist in neuroscience who trained at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, is accused of grabbing a US Army officer's rifle during an interrogation in Afghanistan in July 2008 and exchanging gunfire with US soldiers and FBI agents.
She survived a gunshot wound to the stomach and was brought to the United States weeks later to face federal charges of attempted murder and assault. Prosecutors allege that she is an al Qaeda sympathiser.
First Published: Thursday, January 14, 2010, 10:15