BACK WITH A BANG: Iftikar Chaudhry waves to his supporters from a balcony at his house in Islamabad.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's deposed chief justice made his first public appearance in four months on Monday after the country's newly-elected premier ordered judges detained by President Pervez Musharraf to be freed. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry waved from the balcony of his house in the capital Islamabad, where he has been kept under house arrest since Musharraf sacked him under a state of emergency on November 3. A beaming Chaudhry, flanked by his wife, children and several aides, waved to supporters who chanted slogans in support of the judiciary and waved flags. "I am thankful to the entire nation which has struggled for the last five months for the rule of law," Chaudhry, dressed in a traditional black tunic, told supporters through a loudspeaker. "We have to move forward in a decent manner and I will always be seeking your cooperation," he said. Firebrand lawyer and key Chaudhry aide Aitzaz Ahsan said that the chief justice's 10-year-old son, who has also been held in the house since November, was "perhaps the youngest political prisoner in the world." "Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has taken a very bold step and we thank him," said Ahsan, chairman of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who himself emerged from house arrest last month. He said that lawyers would hold no protests for the new government's first 30 days in office, by the end of which they have pledged to pass legislation reinstating the deposed judges. The coalition administration is led by the party of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto. Police earlier removed barbed wire and concrete barricades outside the houses of Chaudhry and other judges. The developments came shortly after Gilani ordered the release of Chaudhry and dozens of other judges in his first speech since being elected by parliament. "I order all the detained judges to be released immediately," said Gilani, once a key aide to Bhutto. Musharraf, a key US ally in the "war on terror", sacked around 60 senior judges fearing that they could overturn his victory in a presidential election in October, which he secured while being army chief and president at same time. A coalition led by Bhutto's party that won general elections in February has vowed to reinstate the sacked judiciary. If the new government honours the pledge, the judges could rule Musharraf's re-election as president for another five-year term illegal and effectively oust him from his position.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's deposed chief justice made his first public appearance in four months on Monday after the country's newly-elected premier ordered judges detained by President Pervez Musharraf to be freed. Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry waved from the balcony of his house in the capital Islamabad, where he has been kept under house arrest since Musharraf sacked him under a state of emergency on November 3. A beaming Chaudhry, flanked by his wife, children and several aides, waved to supporters who chanted slogans in support of the judiciary and waved flags. "I am thankful to the entire nation which has struggled for the last five months for the rule of law," Chaudhry, dressed in a traditional black tunic, told supporters through a loudspeaker. "We have to move forward in a decent manner and I will always be seeking your cooperation," he said. Firebrand lawyer and key Chaudhry aide Aitzaz Ahsan said that the chief justice's 10-year-old son, who has also been held in the house since November, was "perhaps the youngest political prisoner in the world." "Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has taken a very bold step and we thank him," said Ahsan, chairman of the Supreme Court Bar Association, who himself emerged from house arrest last month. He said that lawyers would hold no protests for the new government's first 30 days in office, by the end of which they have pledged to pass legislation reinstating the deposed judges. The coalition administration is led by the party of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto. Police earlier removed barbed wire and concrete barricades outside the houses of Chaudhry and other judges. The developments came shortly after Gilani ordered the release of Chaudhry and dozens of other judges in his first speech since being elected by parliament. "I order all the detained judges to be released immediately," said Gilani, once a key aide to Bhutto. Musharraf, a key US ally in the "war on terror", sacked around 60 senior judges fearing that they could overturn his victory in a presidential election in October, which he secured while being army chief and president at same time. A coalition led by Bhutto's party that won general elections in February has vowed to reinstate the sacked judiciary. If the new government honours the pledge, the judges could rule Musharraf's re-election as president for another five-year term illegal and effectively oust him from his position.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment