March 08, 2008

Pakistani Lawyers Seek Release of Judges

Link: Lawyers Demand Release of Judges in Pakistan - New York Times.

Fresh from being released after four months in detention, Mr. Ahsan said the recent parliamentary elections were not enough proof that President Pervez Musharraf’s government was dedicated to democracy. He insisted that the next step had to be the release of the former chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who was fired along with the rest of the Supreme Court during a state of emergency imposed by Mr. Musharraf on Nov. 3. Mr. Chaudhry and nine other justices remain under house arrest.

“Our struggle is to make Pakistan a state where the judiciary is independent, and what Musharraf did to the chief justice is an example of how under him no judge is ever independent,” Mr. Ahsan said to a crowd of lawyers who chanted for Mr. Musharraf’s resignation.

Posted by Anupam Chander on March 8, 2008 at 10:09 PM in Law School | Permalink