Pakistani police 'beat lawyers'

[eppur_se_muova]

Source: BBC

Police have baton-charged a rally by Pakistani lawyers protesting outside the High Court in Karachi against the state of emergency, lawyers say.

They made many arrests after breaking up the demonstration, news agencies were told by members of the judiciary.

President Pervez Musharraf declared the emergency on Saturday, saying he was acting to curb extremism.
***
"Police beat lawyers with batons as they came to the High Court in the morning," Akhtar Hussain, a former president of the Sindh High Court Bar Association, told Reuters news agency.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7078364.stm

[krispos42]

1. Wow, talk about mixed feelings...

On the one hand, the Pakistanis are beating people senseless. On the other, they're beating lawyers senseless.

:shrug:

[provis99]

2. good thing Musharraf and Bush are good buddies

in the "War On Terror", or we might think this is a violation of civil rights.:sarcasm:

[lostnotforgotten]

3. Pakistan - PrePractice For Bush's Amerika?

eom

[Supersedeas]

22. Due Process - Bushler style

[grytpype]

4. This is what Bush is going to do in January 09. He won't give up without a fight.

[cartach]

5. Who was that

who once said "kill all the lawyers"? At least they're not being killed and many of them could do with a good beating once in a while.

[no_hypocrisy]

6. Welcome to DU and it was William Shakespeare in "Henry VI", Pt 2.

[Yellow Horse]

7. Woo Hoo! I'd LOVE to beat a few Lawyers once in awhile! They could use it.

And I say that with apologies to any lawyers on here who are decent, but you have to know you are few and far between. Most lawyers are all about money and nothing about helping society or their fellow human being.

Lawyers control, game, and make fortunes off our court system that is paid for by the public and is supposed to provide "Justice For All." Well, guess what -- the reality is "justice for those who can afford a smarmy lawyer!" Try navigating even the most simple court procedure on your own as a citizen and see how far you get.

I know a lady who is being sued for everything she owns and is facing court today unrepresented because she doesn't have a $3000 to $10,000 retainer to hand some lawyer (but she isn't "poor enough" and/or her problems simple enough to qualify for the magnanimous "legal aid" in her county.) What do you want to bet she loses?

Shakespeare ROCKS!

PS -- Don't give me that crap about lawyers have to charge $3-10 K because they have to pay their bills. Bull. Teachers, doctors, clergy, police, plumbers, and others -- all these have bills too, but their services are available to the middle class. (well, maybe less and less when it comes to doctors ;-) )

[AngryAmish]

8. This is the same thing that happened in Henry VI

They wanted to kill the lawyers to destroy the law - the last bastion against tyranny.

In Pakistan they are beating the lawyers because they want Musharrif to be the law - a dictator.

(As an aside, I made be distantly related to Musharrif by marriage).

[Yellow Horse]

11. Indeed. Well, sadly now in the USA, lawyers ARE the tyranny when it comes to getting Justice.

As I said above, lawyers control, game, and make fortunes off OUR Court System in the United States, making it virtually impossible for a regular citzen to navigate the courts without one of them as a "guide" and yet making their price so high many middle-class citizens can not afford that guidance. Result: justice for the few who can pay $200 an hour and up (or who are "poor enough" and/or have simple enough legal problems to get the limited "legal aid" these lawyers make available.)

Not Justice For All.

Maybe in Pakistan lawyers care more about doing what's right, and less about making money. In that case I am sorry if they are being beaten and maybe instead Mushariff should send some of his lawyer-beating goons over here.

[maddezmom]

9. Thousands battle Pakistani police

Source: AP

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Police fired tear gas and battered thousands of lawyers protesting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to impose emergency rule, as Western allies threatened to review aid to the troubled Muslim nation. More than 1,500 people have been arrested in 48 hours, and authorities put a stranglehold on independent media.

Musharraf, who took power in a 1999 coup and is also head of Pakistan's army, suspended the constitution on Saturday ahead of a Supreme Court ruling on whether his re-election as president was legal. He ousted independent-minded judges, stripped media freedoms and granted sweeping powers to authorities to crush dissent.

Though public anger was mounting in the nation of 160 million people, which has been under military rule for much of its 60-year history, demonstrations so far have been limited largely to activists, rights workers and lawyers. All have been quickly and sometimes brutally stamped out.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Washington was reviewing its assistance to Pakistan, which has received billions in aid since Musharraf threw his support behind the U.S.-led war on terror after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071105/ap_on_re_as/pakistan

---

Police officers stand guard as lawyers protest in Multan, Pakistan on Monday, Nov. 5, 2007. Baton-wielding police fired tear gas and clashed with thousands of lawyers protesting President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's decision to impose emergency rule, as Western allies in the war on terror threatened to review aid to the troubled Muslim nation. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer

[UpInArms]

10. 1999 flashback: Bush fails reporter's pop quiz on international leaders

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/11/05/bush.popquiz/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Texas Gov. George W. Bush is enduring sharp criticism for being unable to name the leaders of four current world hot spots, but President Bill Clinton says Bush "should, and probably will, pick up" those names.

The front-runner for the 2000 Republican presidential nomination faltered Thursday in an international affairs pop quiz posed by Andy Hiller, a political reporter for WHDH-TV in Boston.

Hiller asked Bush to name the leaders of Chechnya, Taiwan, India and Pakistan. Bush was only able to give a partial response to the query on the leader of Taiwan, referring to Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui simply as "Lee." He could not name the others.

"Can you name the general who is in charge of Pakistan?" Hiller asked, inquiring about Gen. Pervaiz Musharraf, who seized control of the country October 12.

"Wait, wait, is this 50 questions?" asked Bush.

Hiller replied: "No, it's four questions of four leaders in four hot spots."

<snip>

Bush, in answering the question about the leader of Pakistan, also said: "The new Pakistani general, he's just been elected -- not elected, this guy took over office. It appears this guy is going to bring stability to the country and I think that's good news for the subcontinent."

Gore released a statement Friday taking Bush to task for his comments on Pakistan's recent coup.

"I find it troubling that a candidate for president in our country -- the world's oldest democracy -- would characterize the military takeover as "good news," Gore said. "Further, I find it even more disturbing that he made these comments about a nation that just last year tested nuclear weapons -- shortly after voicing his public opposition to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

A spokesman for President Clinton also criticized Bush's comments.

"It is very dangerous for this country to condone the overthrow of democratically elected governments," said David Leavy, spokesman for the National Security Council.

...more worth reading and remembering...

[cali]

12. disturbing comments on this thread

here are people courageous enough to get in the face of a military coup- and because they're lawyers, not monks, people on this thread deride them and say such things as; they could do with a good beating.

:puke:

[gratuitous]

13. Yeah, no kidding

And watching the coverage (if you can find it) in our domestic media is just about as appalling.

[UnitedVoters]

15. Yeah, well did you read WHY they are saying those comments? AMERICAN lawyers...

...have apparently earned this hate and scorn for their profession.

If Bush tries this in 2009, I wonder how many of the $500 K-Street suits we'll see out there in the streets of D.C. getting THEIR heads bashed in?

[cali]

17. too bad so many of you are that simple

that you transpose your american sensibilities onto what's happening in Pakistan.

[eppur_se_muova]

18. If they had been labeled "civil rights lawyers", would we be seeing those same responses?

I certainly hope not. These lawyers are most likely all pro-Democracy activists, that's WHY Musharraf is after them. These "lawyers" are probably the DU and ACLU of Pakistan.

[cali]

19. it really shouldn't take that

the comments on this thread are purely reactionary.

[eppur_se_muova]

20. It shouldn't, true. nt

[northernsoul]

23. For all of you who fantasizing about beating my colleagues and I

I sincerely hope you never find yourself in a situation where a skilled attorney is all that stands between you and gas chamber, loss of your children, etc.

[L. Coyote]

14. NY: Police Battle Lawyers in Pakistan

By JANE PERLEZ and DAVID ROHDE
Published: November 6, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/world/asia/06pakistan.html?ref=world

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Nov. 5 — Police armed with tear gas and clubs attacked thousands of protesting lawyers in the city of Lahore today, and rounded up lawyers in other cities as the government of the Pakistani president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, faced the first signs of concerted resistance to the imposition of emergency rule.

.............

[tuckessee]

16. They shouldn't use kid gloves when dealing with shysters. n/t

[yellowcanine]

21. Welcome to another Bush/Condi clusterfuck.

So we are "reviewing" the situation but keeping in mind the importance of Pakistan in the war on terra, according to Condi. In other words, Condi and Bush will make clucking noises in public but quietly back the military dictatorship in private.

[BreweryYardRat]

24. You know, this is the same evil shit the Nazis did.

They targeted lawyers who spoke out against them.

And now Musharraf is doing the same thing.

And yet we're still supporting him.

:puke: