Pakistan lawyers stage mass protest
Tuesday, 10 Jun 2008 09:49
Protestors are calling for president Pervez Musharraf to restore the judges
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Around 1,000 Pakistani lawyers are staging a mass protest calling for the restoration of the judges sacked by president Pervez Musharraf.
The protest, which began yesterday in Multan, is due to end in the capital city of Islamabad on Thursday and is aiming on increasing the pressure on Mr Musharraf to reinstate the officials.
"We are out to save the judiciary. We are out to save the country," Mehmood-ul-Hassan, president of the Karachi Bar Association, told the rally today.
Elsewhere, lawyers chanted "Go Musharraf" repeatedly as they processed through the city of Karachi.
Pakistan's deposed chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has also joined the "long march".
He was sacked by the president under emergency rule in November and is due to fly to Lahore and then drive to Multan as part of the demonstration this week.
New prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani freed Mr Chaudhry in March after winning the national elections.
However, the new coalition government has been unable to agree on how to go about restoring the judges.