By JANE PERLEZ
RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — Beside racks of hanging meat and barrows of oranges in the alleys of the old town here, Aitzaz Ahsan, the leader of the lawyers movement in Pakistan, was back on the campaign trail Saturday, calling for the release of the nation’s detained judiciary leaders.
Fresh from being released after four months in detention, Mr. Ahsan said that 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, Mohamed Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was fired along with most of the Supreme Court during a state of emergency imposed by Mr. Musharraf on Nov. 3. Mr. Chaudhry and nine other justices remain in detention.
“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. The rally here on Saturday was part of a series of marketplace demonstrations between the capital, Islamabad, and this nearby city to show support for the lawyers movement. The lawyers are planning a week of anti-Musharraf demonstrations, called Black Flag Week after the protesters’ flags and armbands.
No comments:
Post a Comment