Thousands of people participated in a rally held on the
streets of Islamabad Saturday to
protest once against the suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and to
show their support for the embattled lawmaker.
A long series followed the suspension of Chaudhry on March 9,
most of the protests turning violent, with persons ending up in hospital
emergency rooms or in prison, as security forces ruthlessly made use of force
to disperse the demonstrators.
President Pervez Musharraf had to deal with heavy fire coming from opposition
parties, activists and even human rights organizations for the violent manner his
government handled the situation and for the “abusive” firing of
lawmakers.
The protesters behaved in a peaceful manner, the massive unit of security
forces having no problem in preserving the order. The rally was led by Hina
Jeelani, a famous human rights advocate who also expressed her indignation
towards Chaudhry’s dismissal, that was categorized as “an attack on the
judiciary's independence.”
Musharraf expressed his desire to run for a new term at the end of 2007 and he
is suspected of removing the judge in order to clear his path of opponents that
might jeopardize his second election as head of Pakistan.
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