Across Pakistan, Lawyers Protest Judge's Removal

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Lawyers boycotted court proceedings, clashed with riot police, and burned an image of Pakistan's President Musharraf yesterday in a countrywide protest against the ouster of the country's top judge.

The country's main opposition party also decried the removal of Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, in a high-profile test of judicial independence in military-dominated Pakistan.

Justice Chaudhry, who has a reputation for cracking down on government misdeeds and human-rights abuses, was suspended by General Musharraf on Friday. The government said General Musharraf received complaints against Justice Chaudhry alleging that he had abused his authority, but it declined to provide details.

Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani said the Supreme Judicial Council — a panel of top judges — would hear the case against Justice Chaudhry at a closed hearing today, despite reported calls from the suspended judge for the proceeding to be open to the public.

He also denied reports that the chief justice was under house arrest.

However, police posted outside Justice Chaudhry's official residence in the capital, Islamabad, have allowed only a few people to enter and riot police armed with batons and shields were posted around the area.

Yesterday, attorneys boycotted courts in various cities to protest.

At the Supreme Court in Islamabad, a group of lawyers chanted "Shame, shame, shame" outside a courtroom where the acting chief judge, Javed Iqbal, was to hear a case but was forced to adjourn the proceedings because no counsel for the petitioners appeared.

Two dozen other lawyers outside the building shouted "Long live Iftikhar Chaudhry" and "Free the chief justice."

In the eastern city of Lahore, police stopped hundreds of lawyers from marching toward the provincial assembly, sparking a clash in which protesters pelted police with bricks and stones and officers beat them back with batons, police said.

About 20 lawyers were injured in the scuffle, said Imtiaz Habib, a police officer in Lahore. Eight protesters were detained temporarily but were not formally charged, Mr. Habib said.

The lawyers later staged a sit-down protest in front of the provincial high court.