ISLAMABAD, 26 March 2007 — In a move to thwart opposition’s protests planned against President Pervez Musharraf’s removal of the Supreme Court’s chief judge, police detained hundreds of opposition activists yesterday.
Late night raids were conducted and opposition activists picked up by police in Attock, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Gujranwala and Lahore in Punjab province, sources said. Prominent among those detained include two former speakers of the National Assembly Sayed Yousaf Reza Gailani and Sayed Fakhar Imam.
The suspension of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on March 9 has enraged lawyers and opposition activists and many ordinary Pakistanis who consider it an attack on the independence of judiciary.
Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said he had no information about any opposition detentions ahead of the rallies organized by a key opposition alliance across Pakistan today. The protests are the latest in a judicial crisis sparked by Musharraf’s removal of the top judge.
Musharraf suspended Chaudhry over unspecified allegations that the independent-minded judge had abused his authority.
Musharraf has defended his move against Chaudhry, saying it was not politically motivated and followed the constitution. But opposition political groups and lawyers accuse Musharraf, an army general who seized power in a 1999 coup, of trying to tame the court before elections likely to trigger legal challenges to his rule.
Since Chaudhry’s removal, lawyers and opposition groups have held a series of protests across Pakistan against Musharraf. Some have turned violent, leaving several people injured.
More protests are planned for today by the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy, the main anti-Musharraf opposition grouping which includes the parties of former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.
Hundreds of alliance supporters have been detained over the past three or four days, said Raja Zafarul Haq, chairman of Pakistan Muslim League-N, a party led by Sharif.
Haq condemned Musharraf’s removal of Chaudhry as “unconstitutional, illegal and immoral.” The detention of opposition activists “is an effort to prolong his dictatorship,” Haq said.
About 150 opposition workers were detained in raids on their homes late Saturday in the eastern city of Lahore, a police officer said yesterday.
Lahore police chief Malik Mohammed Iqbal did not confirm the reported detentions but said that the opposition protests to be held today will not be allowed due to a ban on rallies by the government of Punjab province, of which Lahore is the capital.
Iqbal would not specify when the ban was imposed or whether it was aimed at putting down protests against Musharraf’s move.
