Lawyers Protest in Pakistan

The BBC is reporting that late Thursday night a convoy of lawyers left the eastern Pakistan city of Lahore to converge on the capital Islamabad to demand the reinstatement of judges who were removed last November. The government is undecided as to how to reinstate the judges, or even if they should. The lawyers are planning a peaceful sit-in after their 270 km motorized trip through various towns along the way to Islamabad.

According to the BBC report:

Organisers said the struggle of the lawyers had now reached a “decisive phase”. The lawyers have been joined by some civil society activists and supporters of political parties.

The same article goes on to explain:

President Musharraf said in a recent press conference that he would not resign and the judges should not be restored.

The protests are expected to present the first real challenge for Pakistan’s fragile coalition government.

You may recall Slaw previously monitored the Rule of Law issue and the status of lawyers in Pakistan.

Hat tip to BBC news feed on Twitter for the story.

Photo credit: Taken November 6, 2007 and uploaded to Flickr by orionoir. Used under Creative Commons license.