Violent protests erupt in Pakistan

By Francesca Lo Basso
Collegian Editor
March 21, 2007

Head Supreme Court Judge Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry of Pakistan was suspended from office March 9 by President Musharraf himself. Protest over Chaudhry’s removal resulted in violence by his supporters and police forces, the hostility coming to a head over the weekend. Dozens were injured in the northeastern city of Lahore as police lobbed tear gas and wielded their batons to disperse a crowd of hundreds.

Chaudhry was suspended for what Musharraf referred to as misusing his office.   According to BBCNews.com, Musharraf requested that the chief justice meet him at his official residence, and then questioned him on a series of charges, including accepting bribes, that were brought against him. When the president found Chaudhry’s answers unsatisfactory, he turned the affair over to Pakistan’s five-member group of senior judges known as the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC). At the same time, Musharraf also issued two orders. The first inhibited Chaudhry from performing his duties and the second appointed an acting chief justice.

Legal experts have been questioning the president’s authority to deliver either of these edicts. As explained by BBCNews.com, the Pakistani constitution allows only for the president to refer a judge to the SJC, but outlines no such power to restrict his position. Beyond this breach of power, other such illegalities were committed in regards to the removal of Chaudhry from office.

The chief justice asked to go to the Supreme Court, but was overruled by the police escort that brought him to his home. He was also cut off from all means of communication for over 48 hours: his house lines were disconnected, his cell phone blocked and the delivery of his newspapers stopped. Witnesses also stated that the national flag of Pakistan and the flag of the Supreme Court were removed from outside his house. Only when a former politician—as he put it —“dodged security” and entered his residence was he able to communicate with someone.

Critics have been adamant in their condemnation of the extreme measures taken against Chaudhry when, as they have pointed out, there are more serious charges – such as embezzlement and property fraud – against other judges, including two members of the SJC who will hear Chaudhry’s case. With national elections approaching at the end of the year, they believe he was singled out because of his history of being critical of the government.

It is apparent that the government did not predict such widespread dissent over Chaudhry’s suspension. The recent violence in Lahore occurred when police tried to stop the lawyers at the city’s high court from holding a protest march. According to witnesses, the protestors responded by throwing stones at the police who in turn threw stones back, as well as tear gas and batons.

However, the most astonishing police action occurred when they raided the privately owned Geo TV’s office in Islamabad. The station, along with other media outlets, had been ignoring the government’s attempt to influence their coverage of the protests. The police used their batons to smash glass, furniture and broadcast equipment at the station. Musharraf publicly apologized for the outrage, and 14 policemen were suspended for their actions.

bbcnews.com

lobassof1@lasalle.edu