By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN FEDERAL COURT — Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui was sentenced to 86 years in prison in Federal District Court in Manhattan on Thursday for the attempted murder of Americans while she was detained in Afghanistan in 2008.
In February, Siddiqui was convicted of attempted murder by a jury in Manhattan federal court on charges that she fired a machine gun at FBI agents and U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan two years ago.
The scientist was sentenced by Judge Richard M. Berman, who said "significant incarceration is appropriate," the AP reported.
At her sentencing on Thursday, the judge gave Siddiqui, 38, the opportunity to address the court and she carried a much more peaceful message than during her trial, throughout which she had frequent angry outbursts that resulted in her ejection from the courtroom.
"I do not want any bloodshed. I do not want any misunderstanding. I really want to make peace and end the wars," the AP reported her saying on Thursday.
The MIT-trained scientist said she was upset by overseas media reports that she was being tortured while in custody in the United States.
"I am not sad. I am not distressed...They are not torturing me," the AP said she told the court. "This is a myth and lie and it's being spread among the Muslims."
Investigators claimed Siddiqui was an al Qaeda supporter when she was arrested in Afghanistan in July 2008 allegedly carrying handwritten bomb-making plans, vials of chemicals, and a list of New York City landmarks thought to be targets, including the Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Siddiqui's lawyers had requested a sentence of 12 years, while prosecutors were pressing for a life sentence.
Her conviction sent shock waves through her home country of Pakistan, where protestors were shouting, "Free Aafia!" at a rally in Karachi on Thursday.
