Lawyers vow to oust Musharraf in court battle

[struggle4progress]

Source: The Hindu

Nirupama Subramanian

ISLAMABAD: Aitzaz Ahsan, who fought the court battle for the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary, said on Saturday that even if President Pervez Musharraf won another term, he would be unseated in a “a matter of months” by the process of law ...

Constitution Avenue, where the Supreme Court is located, was a battlefield from 9 a.m. until late in the afternoon.

At each police charge, lawyers rushed into the Supreme Court, regrouped and returned to the road, running back in again when the caning and the teargassing started afresh. Many stones and at least one teargas shell landed in the Supreme Court, prompting the Registrar to come out and ask the police not to target the court.

Raja Yasir, a young lawyer from Rawalpindi, who returned to join the protests after getting 10 stitches on his head, his shirt still bloodstained, said he was fighting for democracy, constitutionalism, the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary ...



Read more: http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/30/stories/2007093055361700.htm

[Kagemusha]

1. If they pulled that on the steps of the US Supreme Court...

I don't feel that Americans would call it fighting for democracy, constitutionalism, rule of law and judicial independence.

[struggle4progress]

2. A police state (The News)

Sunday, September 30, 2007

The ugly scenes shown of policemen dress in riot gear mercilessly beating unarmed lawyers and broadcast all over national television channels on Friday afternoon are a matter of unadulterated shame for the government. The cameras also caught how a group of lawyers, which included PPP MNA Aitzan Ahsan, who was also one of the amicus curiae in the court and has earlier served as one of the main lawyers for the Chief Justice during the hearing of a presidential reference filed against him, were targeted by the police personnel and showered with sticks and batons ... Sept 28's 6-3 decision instead of settling the ongoing political uncertainty and polarization between some segments of society and the government, only exacerbated it. According to their plan, which had been announced a day earlier, lawyers were to assemble outside the office of the Election Commission of Pakistan to register a peaceful protest against the candidature of President Pervez Musharraf and his seeking re-election to a second term, while still keeping the post of army chief.

But it seems what happened was that as usual, the law-enforcement authorities over-reacted and came down heavy on the lawyers (the media was to follow next). According to several TV channels, they also then used overwhelming force against many of the journalists present outside the EC building who were there to carry out their professional duties as required by their respective organization ...

The scenes witnessed on Friday would make most people -- unless one happens to be a diehard PML-Q supporter -- think we were living in some kind of police state ... Like in the past, there were widespread reports that local television channels were taken off air by the authorities in Islamabad ... Friday's aggression and needless crackdown is likely to add greater momentum to the lawyer's movement against the president's re-election in particular and military rule in general. The main premise by the government for such tactics usually is that it needs to preserve law and order but surely a middle ground can be sought. In civilized and truly democratic countries, protesters, provided they are peaceful (as were the lawyers on Friday), are allowed to have their say from a distance at a designated location ... http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=74115

[Kagemusha]

3. Self-deleted

I misread something important.

The lawyers were trying to come out from the Supreme Court, not rushing to get in.

That uh, didn't make sense to me, and it still strikes me as weird, and not normal..

[struggle4progress]

4. A number of Pakistanis are quite unhappy with Musharraf. Considerable

legal efforts went into a suit asserting he could not simultaneously remain head of the army and run again for office. The regime blockaded the area around the Supreme Court while the case was decided, the Court split, and Musharraf seems to have won.

The OP concerns an attack by police on lawyers peacefully protesting Musharraf between their cases and on journalists covering the protest

[Kagemusha]

5. The journalist should simply not have written "rushed into the Supreme Court"

I knew all about everything you mentioned (I do read too...) but that phrase created a great deal of confusion. (Edit: A more recent post says it's ~700 (!) lawyers who rushed in, but it was for refuge, not as an invasion. That's the part that needed clearing up.) It should create a great deal of confusion. It isn't describing anything normal.

I have no idea how they think they're going to depose Musharraf by judicial coup now that the court didn't rule him ineligible for office.

[struggle4progress]

6. ‘Oppression and arrests do not scare us’ (Daily Times)

Sunday, September 30, 2007

KARACHI: The mood in the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) offices was jubilant and militant at the same time Saturday afternoon, as lawyers vowed to ‘continue protests despite continued oppression and arrests’. They said this in the aftermath of the day’s protests, where shelling by riot police left three lawyers and a journalist injured ...

“The government is making a show of power. It wants to send a message across: dissenters and people demanding the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law will be suppressed,” said Masood Rehman Advocate, one of the lawyers who was injured in Saturday afternoon’s shelling around the City Court. “Saturday afternoon’s shelling was a violation of human rights. In order to cling to power, a dictator is oppressing the masses from all schools of thought. The basic rights of the people of Pakistan are being taken away from them.”

In a statement made to media personnel later, KBA general secretary Naeem Qureshi said that lawyers had filed a petition at the Supreme Court, and with the Election Commission of Pakistan. “We have listed nine objections that we have against General Pervez Musharraf’s nomination in the upcoming presidential elections. Our struggle for the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law shall continue until democracy is restored in the country,” he said.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C09%5C30%5Cstory_30-9-2007_pg12_3

[Kagemusha]

7. I give up.

I write dialogue, you reply with another hammer and nail post. Let us not have such 'conversations' again. They aren't doing the world any good.

[struggle4progress]

9. You wrote: "I have no idea how they think they're going to depose Musharraf by judicial coup now

that the court didn't rule him ineligible for office."

I have provided a link describing a new petition. I have also provided a second link describing a plan by the opposition to thwart the re-election of Musharraf by the current Electoral College, by the expedient of mass resignation

[Kagemusha]

10. Yes, and their plan amounts to clapping louder.

But the fact they have a plan is apparently proof of its certain success. Like I said. This isn't a conversation and it's not helping anyone.

I hope it works out for the lawyers, assuming there's something that replaces Musharraf that's decent, but I don't see this working, sorry.

[struggle4progress]

8. MMA announces daily nationwide protests (Daily Times)

Sunday, September 30, 2007
* PTI condemns ‘brutal’ police attack on procession
Staff Report

LAHORE: The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) has announced it will stage protests daily from September 30 throughout the country against the dual offices of President General Pervez Musharraf and his participation in the upcoming presidential elections.

Sunday (today) will be observed as a countrywide protest day to condemn the police atrocities on lawyers, politicians and journalists in Islamabad outside the Election Commission office, MMA Deputy Secretary Liaqat Baloch told reporters here on Saturday.

The component parties of the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM) would also participate in the protest processions, he said adding that the opposition protest movement has entered its final phase and very soon the rulers would be out of power.

He said that according to a decision of the APDM supreme council meeting, legislators of the MMA, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and other regional political parties would submit their resignations before the speakers of the national and provincial Assemblies on October 2. After resigning, all the opposition would protest to prevent Musharraf from contesting the presidential elections, he said, adding that constitutionally, Musharraf was not eligible to participate in the elections with or without uniform ...

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C09%5C30%5Cstory_30-9-2007_pg7_26