Pakistan lawyer set free

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

Hats off to the lawyer community and the people of Pakistan to have kept up the pressure on the illegal president and forced him to release Aitzaz Ahsan.

Pakistan lawyer set free

                                                                                                                                                                             ISLAMABAD: **Realising it may be on shaky legal ground, the government hurriedly withdrew a detention order for Aitzaz Ahsan, a legal luminary and one of the leaders of the 2007 lawyers’ agitation, freeing him after three months of imprisonment.**

Within hours of his release, Mr. Ahsan pledged that the legal community would continue to fight for the release and reinstatement of the deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary and asked President Pervez Musharraf to step down.
Mr. Ahsan was jailed on November 3 as President Pervez Musharraf brought Pakistan under emergency rule. He was later placed under house arrest in Lahore.
Charged under a law called Maintenance of Public Order, he completed 90 days of imprisonment, the maximum permissible under its provisions, on Thursday.
The government first extended Mr. Ahsan’s detention by 30 days on Thursday evening but withdrew the order late at night.
Before the order extending the detention was served on him, the lawyer, who is also the president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, declared himself a free man and argued threadbare on television channels that the government had no legal leg to stand on if it decided to keep him under arrest.
Punjab Interior Secretary Khusro Parvez said on Thursday great thought had been given to the extension as Mr. Ahsan was an important person, and it was “not easy to keep a person like him in detention.” He said the decision was taken to prevent Mr. Ahsan from instigating unrest.
But the government appears to have had a quick change of mind. Within hours of his release, Mr. Ahsan was out and about in Lahore. He met Shahbaz Sharif, president of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). Addressing city lawyers, he demanded General (retd.) Musharraf step down as his presence was encouraging suicide attacks and terror across the country.
He also asked General Musharraf to refrain from making allegations of corruption against the deposed Chief Justice.
“Our struggle for the restoration of democracy and an independent judiciary will continue. I appeal to all bar associations to actively take part in the struggle to end dictatorship.”
** Mr. Ahsan, a leading member of the Pakistan People’s Party who withdrew from the election in solidarity with the lawyers’ struggle for a free judiciary, said the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), an ally of General Musharraf, would be defeated in the February 18 general elections. If it won the elections, that would be proof that the election was rigged.**

http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/02/stories/2008020259911400.htm

2

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

LOL. If PPP or PML (N) won the elections, then that would be the proof that ballot boxes have been tampered by PPP and PML (N) supporters. People of Pakistan are not that stupid to elect the parties that have looted them twice already. :D

3

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

In a free and fair election PML(Q) has no chance even to save their deposits let alone win a solitary seat, just like the illegal president does not have any chance to get even 5% vote from a truly elected parliament. Thats the reason he got himself rubber stamped by lotas with 95% of the votes cast and proved that he is as popular as Muabrak and Saddam.

4

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

Saturday, February 02, 2008
After several hours of high drama in Lahore Thursday night, SCBA President Aitzaz Ahsan has, quite literally, been able to fight his way to freedom after completing 90 days in detention. For however long it lasts, with rumours floating on Friday of a possible re-arrest of the bespectacled barrister who seems to have been labelled by the state as its enemy number one, Aitzaz’s release could hold considerable significance. Not only is he a key figure in the lawyer’s struggle for a free judiciary, but he has also been emerging over the last few weeks as a pivotal person within the PPP. Indeed, he is expected to take on a key role for the party in Punjab. Aitzaz secured his release by unexpectedly breaking out of his residence, and past the police guards posted outside to keep him in detention. The lawyer, swiftly joined by supporters and media persons, maintained that he had completed 90 days of detention and could no longer be legally held. His attempts to reach the Lahore Press Club or take a walk near his home were, however, thwarted by policemen who forced him back to his home after much mishandling and general unpleasantness.

As legal confusion engulfed government circles, a panic-stricken Punjab government issued new detention orders. However, these were withdrawn within hours, as the attorney general of Pakistan issued a statement saying detention beyond 90 days was illegal unless approved by a review board of high court judges. Aitzaz himself too handed back the new detention orders with comments regarding their illegality and his refusal to accept them. For the moment then, right has triumphed. Aitzaz Ahsan is finally free. But what role he can play in the future will depend largely on President Pervez Musharraf. So far, the president seems set on continuing what has become a highly personalized animosity against Aitzaz, with some strongly worded comments regarding the veteran leader also made during Musharraf’s meeting with Aitzaz’s daughter in Davos. This, one can only say, is not only in poor taste but demonstrates the depth of Musharraf’s feelings against Aitzaz.

But it is necessary to rise above matters of personal clashes or rivalries. The fact is that Aitzaz, both as a highly respected leader of lawyers and a politician, could play a vital role in helping Pakistan emerge from its current state of crisis. He could, crucially, also play a bridging role between the people of the different provinces, given his status as a figure of national standing. It can only be hoped that he is permitted to play this part. Beyond even these issues, the fact is that Aitzaz Ahsan has committed no crime; as such, the basic pre-requisites of human rights and democracy demand he be permitted the freedom to express opinions, and, by doing so, in fact give voice to a sizeable percentage of citizens. Silencing voices such as his can only worsen the air of distrust and repression prevailing in the country.

While Aitzaz is, for the moment, free – and has been meeting the hundreds who have shown up at his home – other political detainees remain in captivity. They include fellow lawyer Ali Ahmad Kurd and Justice (r) Tariq Mahmood. Justice Bhagwandas, meanwhile, was reportedly once more placed under house arrest on Thursday after making a speech for judicial freedom. For the sake of democracy, and indeed decency, these persons must be freed and allowed to play their role within a society that would benefit from a plurality of opinion. Attempts to suppress dissent can only inflict greater damage.

5

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

That says it all. :)

6

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

When desperate dictator is desperately trying to hold on to the power...there is no telling what could happen. Saddam and Slobodan Milosevic are 2 recent examples. When were forced out they destroyed their own countries before they met their maker.

7

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

Allah kher karay Shamraz...are you suggesting this illegal General Musharraf (recently retired) has become a security threat to the country? Has he become so dangerous for the country?

If this is the case why patriotic people like Aalsi still continue to support him...are these people so naive?

8

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

LOL. Dramabaazi at its best. :hehe:

9

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

Thanks Aalsi for clarifying…so this is all dramabaazi…it was really hard for me to understand why a patriotic person like you still supports such a dangerous person for our country…

Yes/No Game
10

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

No Problems. Fikar ki koi baat nahi yaar. Pakistan Zindabad. Long Live President Musharaf. :)

11

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

Personality cult worshiping is alive and thriving at GS.

The Random Thread
12

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

I am beginning to understand the true meaning behind your posts...you actually mean long live President Musharraf (behind the bars)...don't you?

13

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

I didn't realise there were pubs in Pakistan? :D

14

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

No Aalsi...it will be too much...to put the dictator in a cage in one of the country zoo with pubs...he may be illegal but that is a very inhumane treatment...I think you should reconsider...leave him in one of the normal jails...otherwise it will be difficult to control all the human right activists...

15

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

yes yes, please send Musharraf to THOSE "pubs" immediately :D

where is pktun
16

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSISL4117020080202

Pakistan detains lawyer opposed to Musharrraf
Sat Feb 2, 2008 9:00am EST

02 Jan 2008

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities on Saturday detained a prominent opposition lawyer who spearheaded a campaign against President Pervez Musharraf a day after he was released from three months in detention.

Aitzaz Ahsan, a former member of parliament and cabinet minister under assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was first detained under emergency powers that Musharraf invoked on November 3.

He was freed late on Thursday in the eastern city of Lahore. But he was again placed under house arrest shortly after trying to fly to Bhutto’s home province of Sindh to express condolences over her assassination to her husband, Asif Ali Zardari.

“Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan has been detained for 30 days,” a senior home ministry official in Lahore told Reuters. He did not give a reason for the detention.

Ahsan had been defiant after his release and insisted the president step down.

“I tell Musharraf he should go and the army should go back to barracks,” he said while addressing hundreds of lawyers in Lahore on Friday.

Musharraf, the former army chief who took power in a 1999 coup, outraged the judiciary and sparked an opposition campaign against him when he tried to dismiss the then Supreme Court chief justice last March.

Ahsan acted as chief counsel for the judge, Iftikhar Chaudhry, who was purged when Musharraf declared emergency rule, along with dozens of other judges seen as hostile to Musharraf’s re-election in October while still army chief.

Musharraf has dismissed opposition calls for Chaudhry to be reinstated, saying he was guilty of wrongdoing. Chaudhry and several other judges and lawyers are still under house arrest.

Authorities renewed detention orders for senior opposition lawyer Tariq Mehmood and placed him under house arrest in the capital, Islamabad.

“These orders have no legal and constitutional justification. In fact, there is no law and constitution prevailing in the country,” Mehmood told Reuters by telephone.

(Writing by Zeeshan Haider; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)

17

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

Pakistan Re-Arrests Prominent Lawyer

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan authorities put a prominent lawyer back under house arrest Saturday after he tried to visit the grave of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto, his spokesman said.
Aitzaz Ahsan’s detention came just two days after he had been released from three months of house arrest. Ahsan, the president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, was first arrested during President Pervez Musharraf’s crackdown under a state of emergency last year.
Police stopped Ahsan at the airport in the eastern city of Lahore and told him he could not fly to Sindh province where he planned to visit Bhutto’s grave. Bhutto was assassinated Dec. 27 while leaving an election campaign rally.
Sindh Home Minister Akhtar Zamin said Ahsan had been banned from the province. “We are in an election process, and we don’t want anybody to come into the province and disrupt the election process,” Zamin said.
Ahsan returned home, telling reporters that the ban was illegal and had been issued on the federal government’s orders.
“I was just going to condole the death of our slain leader, but the government is scared and took this illegal action,” he said. “We will contest this move.”
Later, Punjab provincial authorities served Ahsan with an order confining him to his home for 30 days, according to his spokesman Aftab Alam. No reason was given for his detention.
In London, The Sunday Times newspaper said Bhutto named the 16-year-old son of Osama Bin Laden as the leader of one of four gangs of “designated assassins” planning to kill her.
The allegation was made in an autobiography Bhutto wrote before she was killed Dec. 27 in a bombing in Rawalpindi, the newspaper said.
The newspaper, which printed what it said were excerpts of the book, quoted Bhutto as saying she had been warned by the Pakistani government and a “foreign Muslim government” that four suicide bomber teams were plotting to kill her.
They included teams led by bin Laden’s son and Pakistani warlord Baitullah Mehsud, whom U.S. and Pakistani officials believe masterminded her assassination.
Parliamentary elections on Feb. 18 are meant to usher in democracy after eight years of military rule under Musharraf, who has been a valued U.S. ally in the war on terrorism but has struggled recently to contain a wave of Islamic militancy.
** Musharraf’s popularity has wanned recently and he could face a stiff challenge from the opposition in the elections.**
One of his top challengers, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, promised Saturday to pursue the cases of hundreds of missing people if his party wins the vote. He spoke to about 100 people who believe their missing relatives are being held by intelligence agencies.
“No government agency or official has a mandate to keep people in illegal confinement,” Sharif said.
The relatives held pictures of their loved ones as they gathered in a tent in front of Sharif’s mansion in an upscale Lahore neighborhood. One young girl carried a sign reading: “When can we meet our dad? Tell us Uncle Musharraf.”

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jIE0IUn4WIiaMBpjG8SI_6H5RXzgD8UILSUO1

18

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

Damn Aalsi, you are really holding your ground despite all these posters being against you

Even though I no longer support Musharraf, I am still impressed by your passion for the man

19

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

Yaar, he is the greatest Pakistani leader since Quaid-e-Azam. Long may he continue. :jhanda:

20

Re: Pakistan lawyer set free

[quote=“daleel”]

Mr. Ahsan, a leading member of the Pakistan People’s Party who withdrew from the election in solidarity with the lawyers’ struggle for a free judiciary, said the Pakistan Muslim League (Q), an ally of General Musharraf, would be defeated in the February 18 general elections. If it won the elections, that would be proof that the election was rigged.

[quote]

:chai:
Brother, is this Mr Ahsan same :devil: who as Law Minister got criminals and murderers appointed as judges and as Lawyer fought for Judges so that they can do corruption, nepotism and can misuse power, and can force their Son into Medical college and later into police job so that he can also do corruption, nepotism and misuse power? :disgust: