Around 3,000 lawyers and opposition supporters massed outside Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday as the country's top judge challenged his dismissal by President Pervez Musharraf.
ISLAMABAD: Around 3,000 lawyers and opposition supporters massed outside Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday as the country's top judge challenged his dismissal by President Pervez Musharraf.
The protest, including chants of "Go Musharraf, Go," was one of the biggest in Islamabad since military ruler Musharraf ousted Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on March 9, sparking a tense political crisis.
With hundreds of police and troops looking on, workers of both secular and Islamic political parties demanded that Musharraf withdraw misconduct charges laid against the judge.
Hundreds of pro-government supporters meanwhile prepared to march from their political office nearby, setting the scene for a possible confrontation with a group of lawyers who moved to block them off.
"The purpose of our movement is to convey a message to the judges that they should not side with the military establishment," cricket hero turned politician Imran Khan, who runs his own party, said.
He was referring to a panel of judges called the Supreme Judicial Council which is hearing allegations against Chaudhry, including that he abused his position to get a senior police job for his son and to amass a fleet of cars.
Chaudhry on last Wednesday lodged a legal appeal with the Supreme Court -- the court he formerly headed -- against his suspension and challenging the authority of the judicial council to hear the case.
Security forces threw barbed wire coils across main roads leading to the court to block the marchers, but an emotional crowd of hard line Islamic parties removed the barricades to reach the venue.
Separately hundreds of lawyers wearing black armbands chanted anti-Musharraf slogans while supporters of exiled former premier Benazir Bhutto beat drums.
Opponents accuse Musharraf of dismissing Chaudhry illegally in an attempt to weaken the judiciary and make it easier for him to stay on as army chief past 2007, when the constitution says he is meant to give up the position.
Musharraf is also expected to seek re-election by the outgoing parliament for another five years ahead of national polls due late this year or early next -- a move that could spark other legal challenges.
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