November 08, 2007	Thursday	Shawwal 26, 1428

SIALKOT, Nov 7: Lawyers continued their boycott of courts across Punjab while police stuck to their job of quelling the backlash against emergency and arrested more lawyers on the third day on Wednesday.

At least 11 lawyers were injured in a police baton-charge when they tried to take out a rally outside district courts in Sialkot. Police also arrested 10 lawyers.

The injured lawyers were identified as Nasir Mahmood, Khalid Hussain, Aslam Chaudhry, Shakeel Ahmed, Rustam Ali, Imran, Sohail, Asghar Hussain, Iqbal Ahmed and Akram Raza.

Reports said the police kept all the main gates of the district courts and district bar association in Sialkot locked in a bid to foil any attempt by lawyers to take to the street. However, the charged lawyers injured some policemen after pelting stones on them.

The police blocked all the link roads leading to courts in Sialkot, Daska, Pasrur, Shakargarh and Narowal.

In Sialkot, the police barred the media people from coverage in the `restricted’ areas around the courts.

MULTAN: An anti-terrorism court on Wednesday sent 12 lawyers, who were arrested on Tuesday from the Lahore High Court’s Multan bench complex and district courts, on judicial remand till Nov 10.

Lawyers, in the meantime, continued their protest against the suspension of Constitution and other post-emergency happenings.

The lawyers sent to jail were: District Bar Association President Muhammad Akram Bhatti, Muhammad Ramzan, Shahzeb, Nazir Ahmad, Mian Khalid Naeem, Aurangzeb Khan, Muhammad Rauf, Syed Nadeem Abbas, Malik Safdar Husain, Muhammad Akbar, Khalid Masood Ghani and Mian Adil Mushtaq.

The case against the lawyers was lodged under 16-MPO, Section 7 of Anti-terrorism Act and sections 148, 149, 427, 186 and 353 of the PPC at Chehliyak police station.

The lawyers were produced in court amid strict security and no one turned up to move bail applications. Police were deployed in front of the nazim’s office in the district courts complex.

A day earlier, top police officials held a meeting with the lawyers who said the DPO had assured them that all the arrested lawyers would be released by Tuesday night. The lawyers, too, assured the police of their help in maintaining law and order during the protest.

When the lawyers’ delegation left the DPO office, a number of police officials surrounded them and started torturing Akram Bhatti and later he was arrested and sent to Chehliyak police station.

BAHAWALPUR: District Bar Association President Yahyah Khan was set at liberty by the police.

After his release, he told Dawn that four plainclothes men forcibly took him away from his office, but didn’t handcuff him. He said he was detained in a room and quizzed about his participation in the protest against the proclamation of emergency.

“I was asked not to take out rallies and raise slogans against the government”. He, however, led a protest demonstration on Wednesday.

The police, according to lawyers, baton-charged the protesters and a clash was averted.

Twenty-five lawyers and some right activists were shifted to the new central jail, Bahawalpur, from Lahore.

Meanwhile, a five-member delegation of lawyers belonging to the Muslim League Lawyers’ Forum met Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi at Bahawal Club and supported the emergency rule.

VEHARI: Lawyers of the local district bar association and adjoining towns, including Burewala and Mailsi, boycotted court proceedings on the third consecutive day.

In Vehari, bar members held a protest meeting at the district barroom. Bar president Rana Sajid, secretary-general Khizar Hayat and other office bearers termed the emergency unconstitutional.

They said the extra-constitutional action had put the integrity of the country at stake and made a mockery of democratic values in this age of information.

Lawyers vowed to continue their struggle till the restoration of democracy in the country. They also demanded release of all the arrested lawyers, journalists and political activists.

Bar president Rana Sajid named the bar library as `Mr Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry Library’.

LAYYAH: Police arrested two lawyers during raids at their houses.

According to reports, the city police raided the residences of advocates Habibullah Garwan, former district bar association president, Muhammad Ashraf Nutkani and Hasidim Husain Sahu and arrested two of them.

KHANEWAL: Lawyers continued boycotting courts throughout the district.

Members of district bar association in Khanewal and tehsil bar associations in Kabirwala, Jahanian and Mian Channu staged rallies within court premises and chanted anti-government slogans.

TOBA TEK SINGH: A complete strike was observed by lawyers here on Wednesday.

The DBA held a meeting in the barroom which passed a resolution, paying tributes to all judges of the Supreme Court and high courts who refused to take oath under the PCO.

Lawyers in Kamalia and Gojra also stayed away from court proceedings. The police took strict security measures to restrain lawyers from taking out rallies.

MIANWALI: Lawyers continued their strike and remained present in the barroom amid presence of a huge police force around it.

Lawyers held a meeting, presided over by bar president Malik Muhammad Rafique, to decide their future course of action. They resolved to continue their strike owing to mass arrests of their colleagues across the country.

Police also booked former minister Nasrullah Khan Dareshak and nine lawyers, Rashid Ahmed Khan, Manzoor Ahmed Khan, Latifullah Khan Azad, Ijaz Gauhar, Aziz Sadat Shah, Muhammad Saqlain Naqvi, Sabir Hussain, Zubair Saeed Awan and Malik Liaquat Ali. It may be mentioned that Sabir Hussain advocate has died some five years back.

The bar action committee said the court would not be moved for the bail of the arrested lawyers.

GUJRANWALA: Lawyers stayed away from court proceedings while police arrested about a dozen lawyers in brawl cases.

Police barricaded almost all gates of the district courts and nobody was allowed to enter. Law enforcers continued occupying the barroom and chambers of lawyers. The judges had to adjourn cases owing to lawyers’ strike.

Police failed to produce the arrested lawyers in courts and many of them, including activists of the PML-N and Tehrik-i-Insaaf, arrested some two days back, were being shifted to Bahawalnager and other jails.

MUZAFFARGARH: Police continued raiding the houses of lawyers to arrest them but could not succeed in their attempt.

Bar president Zubaidul Islam Sherwani and secretary-general Iftikhar Qureshi also went into hiding.

Lawyers also protested by taking out rallies and hoisting black flags in Sahiwal and Okara. At the latter place, lawyers held a meeting and decided to send flowers to those judges who had refused to take oath under the PCO.