Pakistan's top judge hits back at Musharraf

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's top judge launched a blistering attack on the government of President Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday for trying to sack him and for allegedly detaining him and his family.

Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry hit out in a written statement to the country's five-member Supreme Judicial Council as it began a closed-door hearing on unspecified allegations against him of misconduct and abuse of authority.

Musharraf suspended Chaudhry on Friday, sparking protests by lawyers and opposition parties and warnings of a looming constitutional crisis ahead of parliamentary elections expected late this year.

"I will not resign," Chaudhry's lawyer, Aitzaz Ahsan, quoted the 58-year-old judge as saying as he forced his way through a crowd of around 200 protesting lawyers outside the Supreme Court in Islamabad.

"I will contest this case, and I want there to be an open trial."

In his statement, Chaudhry said that Musharraf's moves to dismiss him were "contrary to the constitution" and that the council had no power to stop him functioning as chief justice.

Chaudhry, who was appointed in 2005, said he had been "detained for all intents and purposes with my family members including my infant child of seven years" by security forces at his house since Friday.

They were left without "basic amenities" and were forbidden from receiving visitors, the statement said.

He also alleged that some of his Supreme Court staff had been detained "to fabricate evidence against me" and that files in his chamber had been handed over to the ISI, Pakistan's military intelligence service.

The case was adjourned until Friday after 90 minutes. Chaudhry was whisked away in a car under heavy police guard while lawyers shouted "Go Musharraf, go."    Earlier Chaudhry tried to walk to the court from his residence but was stopped by police and taken to an official building where he met former premier Zafarullah Jamali, who resigned in 2004. He was then driven to court.

Opposition MPs -- led by cricket hero-turned politician Imran Khan and Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of Pakistan's main alliance of Islamist parties -- also staged a protest outside the court. 

Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani urged opposition parties "not to politicise the issue" and said the government was dealing with Chaudhry in accordance with the law and constitution, state media said. 

Law minister Wasi Zafari told private GEO television that the security presence around the suspended chief justice's house was for his own safety.

But the New York-based Human Rights Watch said Musharraf had created a constitutional crisis by sacking Chaudhry, who was known for taking a firm stance on rights abuses and cases of missing people allegedly in government custody.

Chaudhry's sacking also comes ahead of parliamentary polls expected this year -- and a possible legal battle over whether the current parliament can elect Musharraf to a new five-year term before it is dissolved.

The group said the Pakistani government should give Chaudhry a "fair, open hearing" and that his "arbitrary detention" must end.

Protests over the judge's treatment continued for a fourth day with lawyers again boycotting courts in the eastern city of Lahore, the northwestern city of Peshawar and the southwestern city of Baluchistan on Tuesday.