More than 3,000 flag-waving protesters defied a massive security crackdown in Pakistan yesterday to hold fresh rallies against the dismissal of the country's top judge by President Pervez Musharraf.
Lawyers and opposition activists urged military ruler Musharraf to quit as they massed outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad during a fourth hearing into misconduct charges against Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
Musharraf sacked independent-minded Chaudhry on March 9, sparking nationwide demonstrations and a political crisis that is now spilling into its second month.
PHOTO: AFP
"Musharraf is America's pet dog" and "Go Musharraf, go," chanted the protesters, as hundreds of paramilitary troops and baton-wielding riot police kept them outside the imposing marble court building.
Lawyers wearing smart black suits and crisp white shirts waved black flags and mobbed Chaudhry's car as he arrived at the court. A couple of lawyers climbed on top of the vehicle.
The suspended chief justice has denied charges laid by Musharraf including that he abused his position to get his son a top police job and to amass a fleet of cars.
Hardline Islamists and supporters of former premiers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif held separate but simultaneous protests under a blazing sun, as well as workers from the party of cricket hero-turned-politician Imran Khan.
Some demonstrators burned tires, sending a plume of black smoke above the court.
Police set up body scanners to check all protesters entering the downtown area where the protests were held, and erected roadblocks to check every car coming into the capital.
They also arrested 200 people on Thursday in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other towns "to prevent potential troublemakers from coming onto the streets and creating law and order problems," a government official said.
"We would not like any damage to be caused to public property and want the protesters to be peaceful," Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said.
A spokesman for Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's main fundamentalist political party, said more than 50 of its workers had been arrested in the police raids.
Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party said dozens of its activists were detained.
Opponents say Musharraf suspended Chaudhry illegally in a bid to weaken the judiciary and make it easier to stay on as army chief past this year, when the Constitution says he is meant to give up the position.
Musharraf is also expected to seek re-election for another five-year presidential term ahead of national polls due late this year or early next -- a move that could also spark legal challenges.
Musharraf insists he acted constitutionally to stem corruption.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese