Lawyers Demand Musharraf's Treason Trial

By Faisal Shakeel

LAHORE, Pakistan, 9 December 2007 (DAWN):

Lawyers on Saturday demanded
trial of Gen. Pervez Musharraf (retired) under Article 6 of the
Constitution and passed a resolution demanding the restoration of
judiciary to what it was on Nov. 2 [2007].

The demand was voiced at All Pakistan Lawyer's Representatives
Convention held at the office of the Punjab Bar Council (PBC).
Representative of lawyers from across the country and students
participated in the convention.

The resolution, carried unanimously, demanded [all] the political
parties should boycott the upcoming polls, apprehending these
[elections] would be rigged massively.

It rejected the [illegal] Proclamation of Emergency and the [unlawful]
Provisional Constitution Order [PCO] and refused to recognise judges
who took oath under it. The resolution also termed the judges who did
not take oath under PCO the heroes of [Pakistani] nation and condemned
their eviction from their official residences.

The resolution condemned the foreign intervention in Pakistan's
internal matters, especially by the British High Commissioner [Robert
Brinkley], and demanded immediate halt to such acts.

It further demanded resumption of broadcasting of GEO TV and other
private channels, and condemned the [anti-media] PEMRA Ordinance. "It
is tantamount to strangulating the independent journalism", it added.

The house declared Attorney General of Pakistan Malik [Mohammad]
Qayyum and Sharifuddin Pirzada 'undesirable personalities'.

It demanded immediate withdrawal of eviction notices served on judges,
deployment of police outside their houses; observing, lawyers could
protect the judges themselves.

The house further termed the [unconstitutional] amendments to Army Act
and legal practitioners and Bar Council Act, illegal. It further said
Pervez Musharraf is constitutionally and legally NOT the President of
the country.

The convention also demanded immediate release of all the detained
lawyers, including Supreme Court Bar Association [SCBA] President
Aitzaz Ahsan, former [SCBA] President Muneer A. Malik, Ali Ahmad Kurd,
Justice Tariq Mahmood (retired), Baz Mohammad Kakar, Hadi Shakeel
Ahmad, members of civil society and political activists. It further
demanded withdrawal of cases lodged against them.

It rejected the [illegal] caretaker setup and described it as 'B team'
of dictatorial regime. It strongly condemned [unlawful] manhandling
and [illegal] forced exile of Justice Wajihuddin [Ahmed] (retired)
from Punjab and police highhandedness against the lawyers.

The convention pledged the lawyers would continue their struggle for
the restoration of Constitution, rule of law and independence of
judiciary, irrespective of their political affiliations.

Earlier, addressing the convention, Balochistan Bar Council Executive
Committee Chairman Noor Muhammad Baloch said consummation of idea of
Pakistan occurred in Balochistan, deploring whenever Baloch people
rose for their rights they were either killed or hanged.

NWFP Bar Council representative Muhammad Yaqoob Khan said if Gen.
Ashfaq Parvez Kyani wanted to restore the image of Army, he should
arrest Gen. Musharraf and produce him before lawyers. He added the
government blocked television programmes like [Aaj TV show] 'Live with
Talat' to deprive the masses of awareness.

Hyderabad High Court Bar Association President Abdul Sattar Qazi
condemned [illegal PCO] Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar for taking oath
under the [unlawful] PCO and praised students from Punjab. "I pray the
students of Sindh came out of MQM's politics and work for the
betterment of the country", he said.

Lahore Bar Association President Syed Mohammad Shah said the LHCBA
[Lahore High Court Bar Association] should shake off police from High
Court premises. He said he would move a resolution for cancellation of
licenses of lawyers appearing before the LHC [illegal PCO] judges.

LHCBA President Ahsan Bhoon said the Bar is not afraid of police and
believes in one-point agenda of restoration of judiciary in the
country. He added the LHCBA would take out a rally on Monday to GPO
crossing, along with members of civil society and students. Bhoon
assured the house he would effectively deal with the issue of
appearance of lawyers before [unlawful PCO] judges, who had taken oath
under the [illegal] PCO.

PBC Executive Committee Chairman Arbab Ahmad Syed emphasised on trial
of Gen. Musharraf (retired) under Article 6 of the Constitution and
urged lawyers not to appear before [illegal] PCO judges in Lahore.

Pakistan Bar Council member Hamid Khan condemned [unlawful PCO]
Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar for taking oath under the [illegal] PCO and
praised lawyers for keeping the boycott of [unlawful] PCO judges. He
said that he had spoken with Muneer A Malik, Justice Tariq Mahmood
(retired) and Ali Ahmad Kurd, who sent the message of love for all
lawyers. He said the lawyers stood behind [Pakistan Supreme Court]
Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry because he said 'no' to a
dictator. He praised him for saying 'no' again to the Saudi [Arabian]
ambassador.

PBC Vice Chairman Tariq Javed Warraich said the [illegal] PCO judges'
verdicts would not be recorded in the PLJ (law journal) because from
now on it would carry bar council resolutions and articles by lawyers.

Justice (retd.) Nasira Javed Iqbal, Justice (retd.) Khalil-ur-Rehman
Khan, Azad Kashmir Bar Association President, Balochistan Bar Council
Secretary and members of Sindh Bar Council and Hyderabad Bar
Association also spoke.

INTERNATIONAL MEDIA-PRESS - USA