2nd judge quits in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD – A second Pakistani trial court judge resigned yesterday to protest President General Pervez Musharraf’s controversial removal of the country’s chief justice of the Supreme Court.

Musharraf has faced a growing crisis since March 9, when he suspended Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry over unspecified allegations that he had abused his authority. The move has angered lawyers, former judges and opposition leaders.Opponents consider Musaharraf’s move a politically motivated ploy to remove a strong-willed judge ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections due within a year.Attorneys staged protests on Friday in the capital Islamabad, where police attacked the offices of a private TV station that had aggressively covered earlier anti-Musharraf demonstrations.In Karachi, lawyers boycotted proceedings at courts yesterday in the ongoing protests against Chaudhry’s removal and police manhandling of protesting lawyers, said Naeem Qureshi, secretary general of Karachi Bar Association, a lawyers’ group.1st Senior Civil Judge Ashraf Yar Khan resigned in protest over the judicial crisis.Nampa-APThe move has angered lawyers, former judges and opposition leaders.Opponents consider Musaharraf’s move a politically motivated ploy to remove a strong-willed judge ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections due within a year.Attorneys staged protests on Friday in the capital Islamabad, where police attacked the offices of a private TV station that had aggressively covered earlier anti-Musharraf demonstrations.In Karachi, lawyers boycotted proceedings at courts yesterday in the ongoing protests against Chaudhry’s removal and police manhandling of protesting lawyers, said Naeem Qureshi, secretary general of Karachi Bar Association, a lawyers’ group.1st Senior Civil Judge Ashraf Yar Khan resigned in protest over the judicial crisis.Nampa-AP