Lawyers seek end to emergency in pakistan

from the daily times, pakistan

RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi District Bar Association (RDBA) on Friday staged a peaceful protest rally on the district court premises, demanding immediate restoration of the deposed judges of the Supreme Court, the Constitution and democracy in the country. Over 300 lawyers and civil society members participated in the rally. RDBA President Raja Khalid Ismail, former Supreme Court Bar Association president Ikram Chaudhry and senior lawyers Zulfiqar Abbasi, Abdur Rehman Lodhi, Sardar Tariq, Toufeeq Asif Chaudhry, Ghulam Farooq Awan, Khawaja Javed Iqbal led the rally. Chanting anti-government slogans, the rally took a round of the district courts before entering the Quaid-e-Azam Hall. Addressing the protesting lawyers, Ikram Chaudhry said the lawyers salute all those judges who had refused to take oath under the PCO. He said they would boycott the PCO judges and cancel the membership of all those lawyers who attended the courts of the PCO judges. He said the lawyers would continue their protest till elimination of dictatorship from the country. He said senior lawyers, including Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Aitzaz Ahsan, being kept at Adiala Jail, were not allowed to connect with the outside world. There’s no mobile phone, no TV, no newspapers in the jail, he said. A senior lawyer, Umar Awan, told Daily Times that the RDBA would continue its protest till restoration of deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. Police and law enforcement agencies personnel stood around to deal with any untoward situation. Atif Khan adds: The Islamabad Bar Association on Friday staged a rally on the district courts premises to protest the state of emergency and sacking of the Supreme Court judges. Addressing the lawyers, Association President Haroonur Rasheed said the entire nation demanded Musharraf government’s resignation and lifting of emergency. He rejected the interim government and said the new setup was a continuation of the Musharraf rule under which free and fair elections were impossible. Hundreds of lawyers walked around the district courts and chanted anti-government slogans. They demanded immediate reinstatement of the deposed judges of the Supreme Court. staff report