ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP):Pakistan's ousted chief justice, suspended by the president over controversial allegations of abuse of office, left the capital for the eastern city of Lahore yesterday to address a rally of supporters.
Lawyers and opposition figures have staged a series of protests across the country in Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry's defense, maintaining that President General Pervez Musharraf sus-pended the independent-minded judge to avert judicial challenges to upcoming elections.
Thousands of supporters lined up along his caravan route, showering him with rose petals, setting off fireworks and chanting slogans as the vehicles headed to Lahore. Chaudhry, who became chief justice in 2005, has a reputation for challenging government misdeeds and human rights abuses in the country.
Musharraf, who came to power in a coup, is expected to run for presidential election in September or October without giving up his role as head of the armed forces.
However, Musharraf would have to quit his army post after being elected as the head of the state under the constitution.
suspended
Since he was suspended on March 9, Chaudhry has appeared five times before the Supreme Judicial Council, a panel of five judges that adjudicates cases brought against serving judges. A ruling is not expected for months, according to Chaudhry's lawyer Aitzaz Ahsan.
Earlier this week, the government requested that Chaudhry travel to Lahore from Islamabad by air because "terrorists" might target him. The chief judge declined.
"It is the responsibility of the government to ensure the safety of the chief justice," Ahsan told reporters.
Ahsan said Chaudhry had no political agenda for the trip. Chaudhry left Islamabad for Lahore with a small procession, but later, thousands joined his caravan. In Lahore, Chaudhry was to address a gathering of lawyers, judges, writers, intellectuals and political activists in the parking lot of the Lahore High Court later yesterday.
Chaudhry Sarfraz, a spokesman for the Lahore High Court Bar Association, which invited Chaudhry to speak at the rally, said Friday he expected up to 20,000 people at yesterday's demonstration.
