Detained Judges Released. Well Done PM

گرفتار ججوں کی رہائی: نئے وزیرِاعظم کا پہلا ’حکم‘

یوسف رضا گیلانی نے اپنے پہلے مختصر خطاب میں گرفتار ججوں کی فوری رہائی کا ’حکم‘ دیا ہے لیکن کہا ہے کہ جج اپنے مسائل احتجاج کی بجائے پارلیمان کے اندر حل کرائیں۔ انہوں نے یہ بھی کہا ہے کہ ان کی حکومت بینظیر بھٹو کے قتل کی تحقیقات اقوامِ متحدہ سے کروانے اور ذوالفقار علی بھٹو کے عدالتی قتل پر معافی کے لیے پارلیمان میں قرارداد پیش کرے گی۔

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Excerpts from BBC

New Pakistani PM Yusuf Raza Gillani has said he will order the release of all judges detained under emergency rule, minutes after being elected by MPs.

President Pervez Musharraf in November sacked dozens of judges as the Supreme Court was set to rule on whether his re-election was legal.

Former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was among those still held.

...

Mr Gillani made two key pledges in his speech following his election.

The first was to demand "the immediate release of all the arrested judges", sparking cheers from most of the gathered MPs.

Police have already removed barbed wire from outside Mr Chaudhry's home in Islamabad, where he has been under house arrest.

Mr Chaudhry later appeared on his balcony to wave to hundreds of supporters. It was his first public appearance for four months.

He thanked his "fellow judges and the entire nation".

Iftikhar Chaudhry made his first public appearance for four months

"I have no words to express my gratitude to the way you have struggled... to reach this day," he said.

It is not clear exactly how many judges are held or when they might be freed.

However, correspondents say the PM should have the power to free those such as Mr Chaudhry who were held under executive rather than court orders.

Mr Gillani's second pledge was to seek a resolution calling for a UN investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

...

The PPP, which was led by Benazir Bhutto until her assassination in December, emerged as the biggest party in the February elections.

It is now headed by her widower, Asif Ali Zardari.

On Monday he was quoted in The News newspaper as saying that Mr Gillani would serve a full five-year term as prime minister.

Aitzaz Ahsan finally released

Home Department issues re-arrest order in evening, but withdraws it late at night.

LAHORE: Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Aitzaz Ahsan was released late on Thursday night after being put under house arrest in the evening. His 90-day detention order had expired on Thursday.

In the evening, Ahsan came out of his house, which was declared a sub-jail, and sat in his chamber at 6:20pm. However, when he tried to go to the Lahore Press Club, the police personnel deployed outside his house stopped him. He struggled with them and got in a car, but they blocked his way.

The police showed him a copy of his detention order, but Ahsan refused to accept it saying he wanted to see the original document. Meanwhile, dozens of lawyers gathered at the scene. The police brought the original detention order issued by the Home Department at around 10pm, four hours after his previous detention order had expired. He signed the document and wrote his objection on it. He wrote: “This is an extension beyond 90 days.

Hence it is illegal without presentation of the matter before the Review Board constituted under Article 10 of the Constitution. Even the attorney general of Pakistan has declared it illegal on television channels.”

Ahsan also wrote that the order did not mention any reason for the extension, which was contrary to Section-24-A of the General Clauses Act. He stated that the home secretary had passed the order “under the dictation of the federal government”. He added that he had been kept in detention forcibly by the police.

Talking to reporters before his re-arrest, Ahsan criticised the judges who had taken oath under the Provincial Constitution Order (PCO) for keeping quiet at the maltreatment of 60 other judges who had not accepted the PCO. He said sacked chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) was the current CJP’s neighbour and “in illegal detention, but he (the latter) was not taking suo moto notice”.

Source: DailyTimes