Photo Essay: Cops Beat The Crap Out Of Thousands Of Lawyers
The guys in beige or white are plainclothes cops.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Police fired tear gas and battered thousands of lawyers protesting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s decision to impose emergency rule, as Western allies threatened to review aid to the troubled Muslim nation. More than 1,500 people have been arrested in 48 hours, and authorities put a stranglehold on independent media.
In the biggest gathering, about 2,000 lawyers congregated at the High Court in the eastern city of Lahore. As lawyers tried to exit onto a main road to stage a rally—in defiance of a police warnings not to violate a ban on demonstrations—hundreds of officers stormed inside.
Police beat lawyers with batons and fired tear gas shells to disperse them. The lawyers responded by throwing stones and beating police with tree branches. The protesters shouted, “Go Musharraf Go!”
Police bundled lawyers into waiting vans. Many were bleeding from the head.
“The lawyers initiated the trouble by throwing stones at police, and it forced us to take action against them,” said Aftab Cheema, the city police chief.
In the southern city of Karachi, police used batons on Monday to drive more than 100 lawyers out of the compound of the provincial high court and then arrested them, said Rashid Rizvi, a senior lawyer and former judge.
He claimed that several wounded colleagues were being denied medical care in police custody.
“Musharraf is going to break up this country by imposing an emergency,” Rizvi said.
Lawyers were the driving force behind protests earlier this year against the U.S.-allied military leader when he tried to fire Pakistan’s independent-minded chief justice. The move tarnished Musharraf’s standing and spawned a pro-democracy movement that threatened to end his eight-year rule.
Musharraf finally removed the judge, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, when he assumed emergency powers on Saturday, just as the court was preparing to rule whether the military chief’s recent re-election as president was legal.
As well as calling for protests, lawyers groups have vowed to boycott all court proceedings held in front of new judges sworn in by Musharraf.
“Police have arrested hundreds of lawyers from various parts of Pakistan, but we will boycott the court and try to hold rallies where ever it is possible. We will do it to express our angers against Musharraf,” said Latif Afridi, president of the bar council in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
In Multan, a central city, dozens of lawyers chased a car bringing two newly appointed judges to the high court there and chanted “Shame on you!” and “Traitor judges!”
An Associated Press reporter saw police swinging batons and detaining some of the demonstrators while others managed to flee. The two judges swiftly left the court again.
In an address to the nation late Saturday, Musharraf said the growth of a militant Islamic movement and a court system that hindered his powers forced him to declare a state of emergency, despite the urging of Western allies against authoritarian measures.
Less than 24 hours after the order was issued, militants in the Afghan border freed 211 captured Pakistani soldiers in exchange for the army’s decision to free 28 insurgents, including some allegedly connected to suicide attacks, officials said.
They gave no explanation for the decision.
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Great idea for a national holiday. “Beat The Crap Out of Lawyers Day”
November 5th, 2007 at 4:37 amCops Beating the Crap out of thousands of LAWYERS…well it is a start…
November 5th, 2007 at 6:58 am“The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers”
- Shakespeare
November 5th, 2007 at 7:51 amKing Henry VI
One of those battles where you know there’s two opposing sides of the story - but you can’t root for either one of them because you know both are equally worthless.
So you basically start passing the batons out and sit back and watch. Kind of like watching celebrity boxing or Roman gladiators.
November 5th, 2007 at 8:06 am[…] Cops Beat The Crap Out Of Lawyers Hundreds of police firing tear gas and swinging batons clashed with lawyers Monday as security forces across Pakistan blockaded courts to prevent protests against President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s declaration of a state of emergency.– Pat DollardVideo: WND’s Aaron Klein Talks About “Schmoozing with Terrorists” — Ian Schwartz […]
November 5th, 2007 at 9:41 amEven tho most lawyers are jerks, when you need one, you really need one and it’s nice to have a good one. Even tho most of these guys are probably jerks, it doesn’t bode well nor look good to have a guy declare marshal law and do this. Hey, these guys look like some of the only civilized people in that part of the world. Sorry…I hope Musharraf gets his act together.
November 5th, 2007 at 10:22 am