Lawyers boycotted courts for a third day on Wednesday in protest at the suspension of the country's top judge by President Pervez Musharraf, officials said. A complete strike was observed by lawyers throughout the country to condemn Friday's ouster of chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Pakistan Bar Council President Qazi Anwar told AFP.
Lawyers wearing black armbands and chanting anti-Musharraf slogans also staged rallies in cities including Karachi, Multan and Lahore, where opposition politicians joined in, witnesses said.
Anwar said lawyers would observe a token one-hour strike daily from Thursday until the reinstatement of justice Chaudhry, while two lawyers at every bar in the country would observe a daylong hunger strike.
"We will end the strike and protests the moment Musharraf withdraws the decision and admits he made a mistake. The sooner he realises it the better it would be for him," Anwar said.
Hundreds of lawyers staged rowdy protests outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad on Tuesday when a judicial panel began a closed-door hearing on charges of misconduct laid against Chaudhry. The next session is on Friday.
The five-member panel, known as the Supreme Judicial Council, in a statement late on Tuesday cautioned electronic and print media to refrain from commenting on the case.
Chaudhry, who was appointed chief justice by Musharraf in June 2005, has said the actions taken against him are unconstitutional and alleges that he has been detained at his house since last week.
Our Karachi correspondent adds: On the appeal of Sindh Bar Council, the legal fraternity continued its protest strike on the third day throughout Sindh and boycotted proceedings of the courts on Wednesday.
Chairman of Human Right Committee of Sindh Bar Council, Advocate Aqil Lodhi, told Business Recorder that lawyers have once again reiterated their stand on the presidential reference against Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and have decided to continue protest till justice would prevail.
The lawyers have decided to boycott court proceedings of District Courts and Sindh High Court for one hour on Thursday. They will also stage hunger strike at Sindh Bar Council and Karachi Bar Council offices and will hold meetings to lodge protest against taking judiciary under siege by the government.
The lawyers began their day by assembling at Karachi Bar Council and Sindh Bar Council and held meetings. Later, they took out a rally from Sindh High Court building and marched to Sindh Assembly building, where President of Supreme Court Bar Association, Muneer A Malik, addressed the lawyers and reiterated the stand to continue the struggle till judiciary would be freed from unwanted control of the government.
The lawyers made a human chain to express solidarity with Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry. They were wearing black armbands, carrying black flags, chanting slogans against the government and demanding restoration of constitutional rights to the citizens of Pakistan.
Law enforcement personnel were present to check any untoward incident. The rally disturbed vehicular traffic for more than two hours. Lawyers' rally was joined by political activists as well.
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