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Protests continue against Pakistan judge's suspension
Mar 26, 2007 - 7:45:45 PM
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His action in taking up a petition relating to missing persons who were allegedly abducted by security agencies gained him public appreciation but also gave rise to rumours about possible adverse action by the government.
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By DPA,
[RxPG] Islamabad, March 26 - Renewed protests against the removal of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry took place across Pakistan Monday after overnight arrests of scores of activists around the country.
President Pervez Musharraf's March 9 move to suspend the country's top judge triggered rallies by the legal community that have been joined by political parties seeking the removal of the government, which took power in a 1999 coup.
A few hundred demonstrators assembled outside the court complex in Rawalpindi and made fiery speeches against Musharraf, who they claimed was trying to extend his 'illegal rule' by playing the country's institutions against one another.
While there had been numerous demonstrations, Monday's countrywide rallies were the first called exclusively by the joint opposition led by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted in the 1999 coup. Both he and Bhutto now live abroad.
The hardline Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal -, a coalition of six religious and political parties, also joined forces with the liberal opposition, which has thrown itself behind the country's lawyers in their demand for Chaudhry's reinstatement.
Describing the allegation of misuse of office against the chief justice as 'a very judicial and constitutional case,' Musharraf had earlier warned that the government would not allow anyone to 'politicise' the case and said people should stop 'vested interests' from drawing political mileage out of it.
'Protest is a right,' he said. 'I only hope people understand they shouldn't go beyond protest.'
But defiant MMA leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmad said: 'Today, all opposition parties in this movement are not only trying to restore the chief justice, but will take it forward to oust the military president.'
He also asked the army to reject Musharraf as its commander-in-chief.
'We want democracy, free judiciary and an end to the Musharraf rule,' said Sumaira Gul, a member of Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party.
Authorities reportedly detained hundreds of opposition workers Sunday in different cities in the central province of Punjab. More than 300 people were taken into custody in Rawalpindi and the provincial capital, Lahore; however, the arrests were officially denied.
Continuing their protests for the 18th day, lawyers boycotted court proceedings but kept their distance from political gatherings. Their representative groups also observed hunger strikes at court buildings.
Dozens of people were injured in similar demonstrations earlier this month in Islamabad when riot police fired tear gas and used rubber bullets and batons to control mobs protesting the action against Chaudhry.
Security personnel and angry lawyers also pelted each other with stones in similar clashes in Lahore.
Pakistan's second most senior judge, Rana Bhagwandas, was sworn in Saturday as the acting chief justice and is to head the Supreme Judicial Council. The panel will hold a third hearing of Chaudhry's case April 3.
The 'non-functional' chief justice has reservations about the composition of the five-member panel of senior judges hearing his case, saying some of its members have personal differences with him.
The presidential reference against Chaudhry accuses the suspended judge of engineering the appointment of his son, a doctor, to a senior police post. He is also accused of issuing conflicting verbal and written court orders and using state transport without authorization.
Chaudhry, 58, gained popularity for issuing a number of controversial orders against the government, such as one that forced it to backtrack on the privatisation of a steel-manufacturing plant in the port city of Karachi.
His action in taking up a petition relating to missing persons who were allegedly abducted by security agencies gained him public appreciation but also gave rise to rumours about possible adverse action by the government.
Hearing the same case Monday, the Supreme Court observed that the issue held great importance and would not be placed on the back burner. No security agency is above the law, it stressed.
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