Pakistan Lawyers Tell Musharraf To Quit
Background
Pakistan lawyers tell Musharraf to quit
(AFP) 20 July 2007
ISLAMABAD - Lawyers for Pakistan’s chief justice said on Friday that military ruler President Pervez Musharraf should quit after the country’s supreme court overturned his suspension of the judge.
Hundreds of attorneys awaiting the verdict erupted in cheers after the court threw out charges filed on March 9 by Musharraf, under which Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry stood accused of misconduct and abuse of power.
“Pervez Musharraf should resign because the charges were illegal and have been declared null and void by the highest legal authority in the country,” Ali Ahmad Kurd, a senior lawyer for Chaudhry, said outside the court in Islamabad.
“The doors of this building are from now onward closed to the generals and now no general will force martial law, and today, a new Pakistan has emerged from this court decision,” Kurd said.
Munir Malik, one of Chaudhry’s lawyers and the president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, called the verdict a ”historic moment”.
“This is a new dawn for Pakistan,” Malik told AFP.
“This supreme court has vision and courage. The basis of a free and independent judiciary has now been founded in Pakistan.”
General Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 and retains the dual position of army chief and president.
Chaudhry’s backers say Musharraf suspended him because he was an obstacle to his aim to stay on as head of the powerful military in defiance of the constitution, which says he should quit the post by the end of 2007.
The verdict delighted lawyers around the country, with thousands gathering in the eastern city of Lahore to celebrate.
“We salute the whole of the nation for this victory for the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary and the supremacy of the constitution,” said Lahore High Court Bar president Ahsan Bhoon.
Hundreds of people came out of their homes in the central city of Multan after the verdict and chanted slogans against Musharraf.
“This will set a new direction for politics in Pakistan,” said Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, a senior local member of the Pakistan People’s Party of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.
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Pat, some of these pictures you put up are freaking priceless.
heh heh…
July 20th, 2007 at 9:17 amFrom Jihadwatch:
Not that Al-Qaeda is already there, of course. Oh, no.
Friend and Ally Update from Reuters (thanks to Jeffrey Imm):
PAKISTAN said it could not accept “indiscriminate action” on its territory by US forces without first being informed that there was an al-Qaeda or terrorist target there.
“We remain determined not to allow al-Qaeda or any other terrorist entity to establish a safe haven on our territory,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
“Whatever counter-terrorism action is to be taken inside Pakistan, it will be taken by our own security forces.”
Like when? Christmas 2017?
July 21st, 2007 at 5:37 am