Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist imprisoned in a US prison, is expected to be released within the next few days, according to Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Zaidi, a member of the delegation that recently visited the United States to lobby for her release.

In an interview with The Express Pakinomist, Dr. Zaidi, a psychiatrist that Dr. Aafia suffers from serious health complications. However, he hoped outgoing US President Joe Biden would reverse his sentence before he leaves office on January 20.

However, he added that if Biden does not act, the Pakistani government will engage with President-elect Donald Trump to address the issue.

Dr. Zaidi revealed that a three-member state-level delegation had traveled to the United States to advocate for Dr. Aafia’s release.

Although they intended to meet President Biden, a visa delay prevented the meeting. Instead, the delegation held discussions with several US senators and State Department officials to lobby for her release.

Furthermore, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had written to President Biden urging him to give Dr. Aafia’s release on humanitarian grounds.

Dr. Aafia has served 16 years in prison on charges of attempted murder, a crime for which the maximum sentence under US law is 10 years. However, she received an unprecedented sentence of 86 years. Dr. Zaidi noted that Dr. Aafia has been separated from her children for 20 years.

“Although she is not widely known in the United States, nearly 99% of Pakistanis and many across the Muslim world are familiar with her case,” said Dr. Zaidi.

He added that her release would improve America’s image among Pakistan’s 250 million citizens and the global Muslim population of 2 billion.

Dr. Zaidi, who personally examined Dr. Aafia at her detention facility in Dallas, said she is in a state of severe mental illness and suffers from various medical conditions.

He hoped her health would improve if she was repatriated to Pakistan and provided with a supportive environment.

Dr. Aafia was intercepted in Karachi in March 2003 while traveling with her three children. She disappeared for five years and it was later revealed in 2008 that she had been imprisoned in Afghanistan. She was subsequently transferred to the United States.

Two of her children, Ahmed and Maryam, were released in 2008 and 2010 respectively, but the whereabouts of her son, Sulaiman, is still unknown.