Aitzaz Ahsan: Pakistan opposition lawyer freed for Eid holiday

Aitzaz Ahsan, left, a prominent lawyer and opposition leader speaks during a protest arranged by journalists against President Pervez Musharraf, who has imposed restrictions upon the media, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2007, in Lahore, Pakistan. Ahsan was released early Thursday from house arrest for the three-day Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha that begins Friday, his wife Bushra Aitzaz said. He has been detained since Musharraf imposed the state of emergency.
(AP Photo/K M Chaudary)

Pakistan's opposition lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan gestures after his temporary release from detention in Lahore December 20, 2007.
REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

Aitzaz Ahsan was temporarily released from detention for Eid on Thursday and vowed to press ahead with his campaign.

Aitzaz Ahsan, a former member of the National Assembly for Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party, was detained under emergency powers that Musharraf invoked on November 3.

Ahsan was held at Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi for nearly three weeks before being transferred to house arrest at his home in the eastern city of Lahore.

Aitzaz Ahsan (L) is greeted by lawyers and civil rights activists.REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

"All that I've been told is the siege of my house is being lifted for three days to enable me to perform the duties and obligations of Eid," Ahsan said.

The (constitutional) Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and several other judges remain under house arrest. Ahsan said he and other lawyers were unwavering in their demand to see the dismissed judges reinstated.

"The aims are the same, there's no change in those. We seek the restoration of the judges as on November 2," he said.

"We are a totally peaceful non-violent movement which seeks a liberal, tolerant democratic and plural polity and society in Pakistan in which the constitution is fully applicable, the judiciary is independent and parliament is sovereign."

"We are ready to face batons, bullets and bombs," he said. "Our movement and struggle will continue and there will be no let up till the restoration of judges and the judiciary," he said.

Aitzaz Ahsan (C) is greeted by lawyers and civil rights activists.REUTERS/Mohsin Raza

Ahsan said he wanted to meet colleagues over the next three days to plan out their strategy.

"I will be consulting my colleagues, I will be visiting the deposed judges and we have to decide on the future course of action, but we are not giving up," he said.

He said he wanted to travel around the country meeting lawyers as part of his campaign, as he and many colleagues did when pressing for Chaudhry's reinstatement.

"En route, if the people come out to welcome the lawyers and the judges we will, of course, be very happy."

Ahsan said fair elections were impossible under the prevailing constitutional and legal framework, with a judiciary made up of judges hand-picked by Musharraf.

"In these circumstances, in this legal and constitutional environment, there is no question of a fair election. The process is rigged from point one," he said.

source: AFP and Reuters