Finally someone in US has awoken and taken notice of whats happening down here.
Dawn News reports:
Dawn News reports:
US senators have demanded immediate release of Supreme Court Bar Association president Aitzaz Ahsan.Moreover, there are reports of Munir Malik's torture during detention. Infact his family has gone underground due to harassment from agencies.
The demand has been made in a letter addressed to President Gen Pervez Musharraf and signed by 32 senators, a copy of which was faxed to Dawn on Thursday.
Recognising Pakistan’s role in the region and in bringing Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda to justice, the senators have, however, expressed concern at the detention of Mr Ahsan.
“...Mr Ahsan is a highly distinguished attorney and political leader. He is a former government minister and former opposition leader in the Senate of Pakistan,” the letter said, adding: “A senior advocate in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, he consistently earns the highest rating in rankings of legal professionals in Pakistan.”
The communiqué recalled that Mr Ahsan had represented a variety of high-profile political figures, including former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif as well as deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
But, it said, he was arrested last Saturday during a press conference he was holding in Islamabad and was probably being jailed in Rawalpindi.
“It is simply not right that Mr Ahsan is being jailed for doing his job as an attorney by defending rights of his client.
We ask you to immediately look into this mater and urge you to release Mr Ahsan from prison immediately,” the communiqué said.
Meanwhile, some local politicians claimed that US embassy officials had told them by phone that President Musharraf had given them commitment to doff his uniform by Nov 15.
The officials, the politicians said, were contacting political parties as well as civil society members to seek first-hand information about the public response to the emergency.
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Pakistan’s neutered Supreme Court dismissed the main challenges to the reelection of Pervez Musharraf as President yesterday, taking him a step closer to quitting as army chief and restoring civilian rule.
Stripped of hostile judges by General Musharraf under a state of emergency, because he feared that it would rule he was ineligible for another five-year term, the new-look court took just over two hours to throw out the cases.
General Musharraf has promised to hang up his uniform, one of the key demands of the opposition and the international community, as soon as his victory in last month’s presidential election is validated. The final legal challenge is expected to be considered, and dismissed, on Thursday.
“General Musharraf is likely to step down as army chief immediately after the court decision by the end of the week,” said Muhammed Ali Saif, a minister in Pakistan’s caretaker government.
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