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Vanquished lawyers demand trials of Musharraf and advisors

Staff Report

KARACHI: General (Retd) Pervez Musharraf and his close aides who dared to abrogate the constitution of Pakistan must be tried under Article 6 for high treason, demanded many lawyers of Karachi on Monday, reacting to the resignation by President Pervez Musharraf, ending his eight-year long stay at the country’s top position.

Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA) Finance Secretary Sarwar Muhammad Khan, reacting to the resignation, said that besides the main culprit (Pervez Musharraf), those who advised, facilitated or supported him in different “supra -constitutional measures”, as admitted by Musharraf himself, shall be brought to book. This is necessary to establish deterrence to the “adventurist men in uniform”, he said.

Sohail Hameed, a noted constitutional expert, said that the country is saved from a big catastrophe as President Musharraf’s decision to face impeachment was bound to ruin Pakistan economically. Invoking article 58 (2) (b), imposing martial law or using similar measures would have endangered the existence of the country, especially in view of the insurgency in Balochistan and the tribal areas, he said.

Senior lawyer Habib Ahmed said that the resignation was the fruit of a long, sustained and peaceful movement of lawyers all over Pakistan, aimed at freeing people from all ills and establishing a truly independent judiciary.

Another senior lawyer, Abdul Waheed Kanju, criticized the President for his last address to the nation and termed all achievements enumerated by the former ruler as a “pack of lies” and said that in fact Pakistan suffered in all spheres. He (Musharraf) will go down in history as the only dictator of the world to keep judges detained for three long months, he said, terming Musharraf’s eight-year rule as black years in our national history.

Mushaffeh Ahmed, an advocate who is very active in the ongoing movement for an independent judiciary and a compulsory speaker at every protest general body meeting since March 9, 2007, said that democracy has emerged victorious after a 22-month struggle by the lawyers’ community.

The dictator himself has announced that he is stepping down and this is a victory for the people of Pakistan and now it is their responsibility to safeguard the “new found democracy” and this country, he said.

Yasin Khan Azad of the Sindh Bar Council (SBC) said that every Pakistani must be feeling relaxed today as they are freed from the rule of an autocrat. He praised the people of Pakistan for supporting the lawyers’ movement and demanded the trial of the former ruler under Article 6. This is necessary so that no one can even think of playing with the constitution of Pakistan. No safe passage can be given to him either, he demanded of the ruling coalition.

Advocate Nehal Hashmi, a central leader of the PML-N, termed the development as the greatest victory of the people of Pakistan in the previous 61 years.

SBC Human Rights Committee Chairman Advocate Aqil Lodhi termed the resignation of President Musharraf as a victory of the people against bureaucracy and the army and demanded of the coalition government to restore independent judges as a gift to the nation. He said that the list of sins committed by the former ruler is very long. He looted the country, misappropriated millions of dollars received after 9/11 and the earthquake, and is responsible for the killing of more than 1,700 innocent victims of the Lal Masjid tragedy. More than 1,200 Pakistanis were handed over to the US after receiving awards or rewards from Musharraf, 12,000 or more men and women committed suicide because of the economic conditions for which the former president is responsible, thousands fell victim to terrorism and a record number of lawyers were killed or targeted during his rule, he said, demanding an open trial of the former ruler.

SHCBA Honorary Secretary Shaikh Munirur Rahman said that both the political and economic instability in Pakistan was due to policies pursued by the president and his men imported from the US. He said that the lawyer community now looks to the ruling coalition to restore the judges immediately. “The situation has changed altogether with the resignation of President Musharraf and what I suggest is a decision on the judiciary in view of the November 2, 2007, judgement by the seven-member bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which restrained all judges from taking oaths under the PCO,” he said, adding that it will resolve the complex and critical issue of the judiciary in the shortest possible time.

When a notification can be issued to restore nine judges, why can this not be done for the remaining 62 judges, Rahman asked.

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