NEW YORK—The New York City Bar Association got an in-person update on the legal situation in Pakistan yesterday from Pakistani human rights advocate and attorney Aitzaz Ahsan. Ahsan, who spoke at the Bar Association today, is calling again for the reinstatement of the Pakistani judges removed by President Pervez Musharraf last year.
Ahsan served as the attorney for Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry during the justice's hearing in March 2007. Justice Chaudhry was charged with corruption and pressured by President Musharraf to resign. He was later reinstated. However, 60 other judges' entire families were put under house arrest, and those judges have not been reinstated.
According to Ahsan, the case was without precedent.
"There isn't another case in which a chief justice has sued and litigated his own court against the head of state of his own country," he said.
In his comments to the Association yesterday, Ahsan noted that the support from bar associations across the U.S. fostered greater empathy among the American public.
"What has endeared America to Pakistanis, despite the policies of the American administration, has been the support of the bar associations," said Ahsan.
For five months (November 2007 to March 2008), the chief justice and 10 Supreme Court justices were put under house arrest with their families and children, some of who were school children.
Ahsan said that despite Musharraf's unpopularity and being unseated by popular vote, he was able to stay in power. The longer term results are now becoming obvious.
"There's a battle going on for the hearts and souls of the people," said Ahsan. "To my mind, the most effective weapon against terror is the broad mass of people of a given country who have civil rights. If the justice system is subverted in a state where military extremism is already trying to win territory, you must have the independent judicial and judges in their full majesty and dignity. "
Feeds