JURIST - Paper Chase: Pakistan lawyers injured at protests against chief judge suspension

[JURIST] Twenty Pakistani lawyers were injured by riot police Monday as protests [JURIST report] against last week's suspension [JURIST report] of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry [profile] continued. More than 3,000 lawyers gathered outside the Lahore High Court [official website] building and attempted a sit-in on the main street passing by the courthouse. Police used batons to break up the crowd and caused multiple injuries to lawyers, including Senator Latif Khosa of the opposition Pakistan People's Party [party website]. Organized protests also took place outside city and local courts across the country, according to Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association president Munir Malik.

Chaudhry's suspension by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf [official website; BBC profile] has been condemned by lawyers as an attack on the judiciary's independence. Musharraf contends that Chaudhry was abusing his position and Pakistan's Supreme Judicial Council will hear the case against him Tuesday. Until then, Chaudhry has been confined to his home and is prohibited from speaking to reporters, although the government denies that he is actually under house arrest. AFP has more.

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