Pakistan's top judge stands in the dock (1st Lead)

Mar 13, 2007, 13:23 GMT

Islamabad - Pakistan's top judge went before a closed hearing of senior judges amid tumultuous scenes in Islamabad Tuesday following his suspension last week for alleged misconduct and abuse of office.

In what local media are portraying as an unprecedented, politicized trial, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry stood in the dock before the Supreme Judicial Council to respond to still undisclosed allegations which prompted President Pervez Musharraf to relieve him of his duties last Friday.

The hearing comes a day after thousands of lawyers across Pakistan protested at what they call an unlawful suspension.

'The Chief Judge has been treated shabbily and brutally,' said Aitzaz Ahsan, a former interior minister and opposition politician nominated by Chaudrhy to represent him with three other lawyers.

Despite clashes with some 40 injured that broke out with police in the city of Lahore Monday, the Pakistan Bar Council organized more protests Tuesday.

In a session lasting almost two hours, Chaudry said he would not resign as asked by the president and would face the charges, Geo news television reported.

He also complained that colleagues with personal differences with him were on the five-member council hearing the charges. Proceedings were then adjourned until Friday.

The day got of to a confused start when Chaudhry refused to be driven to the Supreme Court building and insisted on trying to walk from his residence, where his lawyers say he was held under house arrest for three days.

'He was pushed and thrown into a motor vehicle (by police),' said Ahsan, claiming that his client kept incommunicado and separated from his family before he was 'roughed up' on his way to the court.

Chaudhry, 58, is a controversial figure who earned a reputation for taking a firm line on government misdeeds and human rights abuses since his appointment in June 2005.

He overruled government privatization moves and ordered national security services to produce dozens of missing persons thought to have been illegally detained.

But the official was also the target of criticism for his liberal use of official transport and in connection with his son's appointment to a senior police position without the required qualifications.

In a loud display of support Tuesday, more than 200 lawyers managed to reach the Supreme Court despite tight security, chanting slurs and slogans against the military president such as 'Go Musharraf, go' and 'Long live the chief justice.' They also demanded that the hearings be made open to the public.

Some spoke of a personal witch-hunt against Chaudhry while others saw a broader context.

'People are already so excluded from mainstream society under Musharraf and now he has taken a step towards a judicial exclusion of the general public,' said Raja Aziz, a lawyer from Islamabad.

Meanwhile, at a splinter protest away from the court some argued that a valid case had been hijacked amid political rivalries with the president and that Chaudhry should go the full course of investigation.

'Certain lawyers have surrendered themselves into the hands of the opposition,' said a spokesman for a group of lawyers from the North- West Frontier Province, who came to display solidarity with Musharraf.

'Whoever is involved in misconduct should be held to account, regardless of their position,' he added.