Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08ISLAMABAD481
2008-02-01 12:32:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Islamabad
Cable title:
AITZAZ AHSAN FREED FROM HOUSE ARREST
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UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 000481
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PK PREL
SUBJECT: AITZAZ AHSAN FREED FROM HOUSE ARREST
UNCLAS ISLAMABAD 000481
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PK PREL
SUBJECT: AITZAZ AHSAN FREED FROM HOUSE ARREST
1. (U) Summary: On January 31, Aitzaz Ahsan, the Supreme
Court Bar Association president, was released after 90 days
of detention in his Lahore home. Former Chief Justice
Iftikar Chaudhry released a letter rebuffing President
Musharraf's criticisms. Lawyers and civil rights activists
around Pakistan celebrated "Iftikar Day" in honor of the
detained Chief Justice and others who have remained in
detention since the proclamation of emergency on November 3.
End summary.
2. (U) After 90 days of house arrest, Supreme Court Bar
Association President Aitzaz Ahsan was released by the Punjab
provincial government on January 31. There then followed
some confusion when new detention orders were released and
then withdrawn within two hours of their issuance. According
to Pakistan's constitution, the government can hold persons
in preventative detention for 90 days; thereafter, they must
convene a judicial hearing where the suspect can defend
him/herself. The Punjab government apparently decided not to
convene that hearing. The same law applies to the other two
detained lawyers, Ali Ahmed Kurd and Tariq Mahmood, whose
detentions orders we believe expire on February 4. Also on
January 31 before news of Ahsan's release, opposition members
of the Senate staged a walkout to protest his continued
detention under house arrest.
3. (U) In a seven-page diatribe addressed to several heads
of state who met with President Musharraf recently, deposed
Justice Iftikar Chaudhry accused Musharraf of slander.
Chaudhry rebutted Musharraf's criticism of his actions on the
bench and after he was suspended, claiming his rallies were
non-political. He lambasted Musharraf for firing the
judiciary and suspending the constitution and complained that
his continued house arrest was illegal.
4. (U) On January 31, lawyers across Pakistan observed
"Iftikar Day" and held rallies in the major cities,
protesting the detention of many of their brethren, including
the former Chief Justice. Demonstrations took place at the
Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Lahore Bar Associations, and an
effigy of President Musharraf was torched outside the
"subjail" where Chaudhry is being held. Lawyers boycotted
court proceedings at the Sindh High Court in Karachi, where
former senior Supreme Court Justice Bhagwandas addressed a
crowd, assuring the group that the lawyers' struggle will
soon succeed and an independent judiciary will soon be
restored. (Shortly after his address, Bhagwandas was
redetained at his house as he attempted to leave for another
rally in Islamabad.) Former Supreme Court Bar Association
president Munir Malik also pledged to the crowd that their
struggle will continue and that the lawyers movement will
"besiege" the Parliament after the February 18 elections if
changes are not made. In Quetta, lawyers protested at the
home of Ali Ahmed Kurd.
PATTERSON
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PK PREL
SUBJECT: AITZAZ AHSAN FREED FROM HOUSE ARREST
1. (U) Summary: On January 31, Aitzaz Ahsan, the Supreme
Court Bar Association president, was released after 90 days
of detention in his Lahore home. Former Chief Justice
Iftikar Chaudhry released a letter rebuffing President
Musharraf's criticisms. Lawyers and civil rights activists
around Pakistan celebrated "Iftikar Day" in honor of the
detained Chief Justice and others who have remained in
detention since the proclamation of emergency on November 3.
End summary.
2. (U) After 90 days of house arrest, Supreme Court Bar
Association President Aitzaz Ahsan was released by the Punjab
provincial government on January 31. There then followed
some confusion when new detention orders were released and
then withdrawn within two hours of their issuance. According
to Pakistan's constitution, the government can hold persons
in preventative detention for 90 days; thereafter, they must
convene a judicial hearing where the suspect can defend
him/herself. The Punjab government apparently decided not to
convene that hearing. The same law applies to the other two
detained lawyers, Ali Ahmed Kurd and Tariq Mahmood, whose
detentions orders we believe expire on February 4. Also on
January 31 before news of Ahsan's release, opposition members
of the Senate staged a walkout to protest his continued
detention under house arrest.
3. (U) In a seven-page diatribe addressed to several heads
of state who met with President Musharraf recently, deposed
Justice Iftikar Chaudhry accused Musharraf of slander.
Chaudhry rebutted Musharraf's criticism of his actions on the
bench and after he was suspended, claiming his rallies were
non-political. He lambasted Musharraf for firing the
judiciary and suspending the constitution and complained that
his continued house arrest was illegal.
4. (U) On January 31, lawyers across Pakistan observed
"Iftikar Day" and held rallies in the major cities,
protesting the detention of many of their brethren, including
the former Chief Justice. Demonstrations took place at the
Islamabad, Rawalpindi, and Lahore Bar Associations, and an
effigy of President Musharraf was torched outside the
"subjail" where Chaudhry is being held. Lawyers boycotted
court proceedings at the Sindh High Court in Karachi, where
former senior Supreme Court Justice Bhagwandas addressed a
crowd, assuring the group that the lawyers' struggle will
soon succeed and an independent judiciary will soon be
restored. (Shortly after his address, Bhagwandas was
redetained at his house as he attempted to leave for another
rally in Islamabad.) Former Supreme Court Bar Association
president Munir Malik also pledged to the crowd that their
struggle will continue and that the lawyers movement will
"besiege" the Parliament after the February 18 elections if
changes are not made. In Quetta, lawyers protested at the
home of Ali Ahmed Kurd.
PATTERSON