Pakistani top judge sacked; lawyers rally
Sunday, March 11, 2007
HUNDREDS of Pakistani lawyers rallied yesterday in protest against the sudden suspension of the country's top judge by President Pervez Musharaf, adding they will launch a nationwide court boycott tomorrow.
In Karachi, the protesters shouted slogans condemning the removal of chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on misconduct charges as "the murder of the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan".
The lawyers burned an effigy of Musharraf at a rally outside a judicial complex in the southern port city.
The national organisation of lawyers met in Islamabad yesterday and decided a countrywide boycott of courts on Monday.
"We demand immediate restoration of the chief justice, withdrawal of the case against him," Pakistan Bar Council vice president Ali Ahmed Kurd said after the meeting.
He described the charges against Chaudhry as "politically motivated".
"There will be a complete boycott of courts throughout the country tomorrow and Tuesday will be observed as a black day by the lawyers' community."
Protest rallies were also held by lawyers in the southwestern city of Quetta and several cities in the central Punjab province.
Musharraf last Friday sacked Chaudhry on charges of misconduct and misuse of authority, an official statement said.
AFP
In Karachi, the protesters shouted slogans condemning the removal of chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on misconduct charges as "the murder of the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan".
The lawyers burned an effigy of Musharraf at a rally outside a judicial complex in the southern port city.
The national organisation of lawyers met in Islamabad yesterday and decided a countrywide boycott of courts on Monday.
"We demand immediate restoration of the chief justice, withdrawal of the case against him," Pakistan Bar Council vice president Ali Ahmed Kurd said after the meeting.
He described the charges against Chaudhry as "politically motivated".
"There will be a complete boycott of courts throughout the country tomorrow and Tuesday will be observed as a black day by the lawyers' community."
Protest rallies were also held by lawyers in the southwestern city of Quetta and several cities in the central Punjab province.
Musharraf last Friday sacked Chaudhry on charges of misconduct and misuse of authority, an official statement said.
AFP
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