Re: 5 hours…4 days…never to be forgotten…
Ousted judge ‘was illegally held’
**Pakistan’s suspended chief justice has said he was “illegally detained” by the country’s secret service heads when he was removed from office in March. **
Iftikhar Chaudhry made his allegations in an affidavit to the Supreme Court. It is the first time the judge has given his version of what happened.
Mr Chaudhry’s lawyer also told the court that Gen Musharraf had “personal malice” against the ousted judge.
Protests over the suspension have grown into a campaign against the government.
The president, who is also army chief, is accused of trying to stifle the independence of the judiciary in an election year.
He accuses Mr Chaudhry of abuse of office, a charge the judge denies.
Observers say the anti-government protests are the most serious challenge to the president’s authority since he seized power in 1999.
‘Innocent’
Mr Chaudhry won the right to have his case heard by the Supreme Court at the start of May.
On Tuesday, his lawyers summed up their arguments, and for the first time released details of what happened when the president tried to persuade their client to resign.
According to the court affadavit, a copy of which the BBC has seen, the heads of three Pakistani intelligence services spent five hours putting pressure on Mr Chaudhry to resign.
The chief justice says he was called to a meeting at Army House in Rawalpindi to be confronted by the president and senior government figures, as well as the director-generals of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Military Intelligence (MI) and the Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Mr Chaudhry says he was then accused of abusing his powers as a judge and acquiring assets far beyond his income, as well as using his position to acquire a government job for his son.
The chief justice says “he denied the veracity and credibility of these allegations”.
When he pointed out that his Mercedes had been sent by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz himself, the latter chose to remain silent, the affadavit says.
Subsequently, according to the chief justice, the president asked him to resign and if he did so willingly, he would “be accommodated”.
If not, then he would face “a bigger embarrassment”.
Mr Chaudhry says he refused and said that he would fight all charges against his person.
“I wouldn’t resign… since I am innocent,” he told the president, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit says President Musharraf stood up angrily at this reply and left the room, followed by the prime minister and other staff.
‘Phone lines cut’
Mr Chaudhry says that he was then made to stay in the room for the next five hours while the intelligence heads insisted he resign.
The affadavit says the judge tried to leave several times but was “confronted by an officer who prevented his exit”.
When he was finally allowed to leave he was prevented from going to the Supreme Court and found his residence surrounded by security personnel, the affadavit says.
All phone lines were blocked, it says.
The chief justice alleges that his entire family was held under virtual house arrest for the next four days, with no visitors allowed and access denied to medical facilities and doctors.
The government has at various times denied charges were brought against the chief justice without his prior knowledge.
It has also denied detaining him against his will.
President Musharraf denies any personal animosity towards the judge and says he was acting out of constitutional duty.
The government’s lawyers are expected to submit their replies to the affidavit on Wednesday.
