Pakistani Court Restores Judge

Slap to Musharraf will tk pro-democracy movement
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 20, 2007 8:08 AM CDT
Pakistani Court Restores Judge
In this picture released by the Press Information Department Pakistan's President Gen. Pervez Musharraf speaks for his televised address in Islamabad, Pakistan, Thursday, July 12, 2007. Musharraf vowed to crush extremists throughout Pakistan and move against religious schools like the Red Mosque's that...   (Associated Press)

The Pakistani Supreme Court has returned the country’s top judge to power, overruling  the suspension meted out by President Musharraf, which ignited a pro-democracy protest movement this spring. Charges of nepotism and abuse of power against Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry were called "illegal" by the court.

Lawyers who took to the streets after Chaudhry's  suspension charged that they were a poorly disguised effort by the embattled president to control the courts. The defeat comes as Musharraf is being challenged on another flank by Islamic militants. Military attacks on hard-liners holed up in a mosque last week created a tide of suicide bombings and militant mobilization. (More democracy stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X