[News reports on the release of Lawyers]
Gulf News
Pakistani opposition lawyer freed
Agencies
Published: February 01, 2008, 10:56
Lahore: A Pakistani lawyer who led opposition to President Pervez Musharraf has been released after nearly three months of detention, his wife said on Friday.
Aitzaz Ahsan, a former member of parliament, was detained under emergency powers that Musharraf invoked on November 3.
"He was released last night," Ahsan's wife, Bushra, said in Lahore. "He's very upbeat about life. He's very happy. He has gone to Lahore High Court to address the bar."
Ahsan, president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, was held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for nearly three weeks before being transferred to house arrest in Lahore.
Several other judges, including chief counsel Iftikhar Chaudhry, who were seen as hostile to Musharraf’s government, remain under house arrest.
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International Herald Tribune
2 more lawyers released in overture to Pakistan's restive legal community
The Associated Press
Published: February 1, 2008
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: Pakistani authorities Friday released two more lawyers who had been placed under house arrest three months ago for opposition to President Pervez Musharraf in an apparent overture to the restive legal community.
Firebrand speaker Ali Ahmed Kurd and retired judge Tariq Mahmood were freed in Quetta and in Islamabad after authorities in the two cities decided not to extend their detention.
Late Thursday, authorities also freed Aitzaz Ahsan, president of Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association, and former lead counsel for deposed Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, from house arrest.
Caretaker Information Minister Nisar Memon said the moves were aimed at creating a good atmosphere during this month's parliamentary elections.
"We want to keep the peace and order before elections and maintain a conducive environment so that people could effectively use their right to vote," Memon said.
But he said that Chaudhry and other judges would not released from house arrest.
"Their movements have been restricted for their own security — otherwise they are free men," he said. "They are issuing statements and write letters."
Many members of the legal community have been opposing Musharraf since he removed Chaudhry on March 9 and filed charges against him in the Supreme Judicial Council. The Supreme Court, however, rejected the charges and reinstated him.
That prompted Musharraf to purge the judiciary of Chaudhry and 60 other judges after he imposed a state of emergency on Nov. 3. That move came only days before the high court was to decide on the legality of Musharraf's candidacy for another five-year term.
