LONDON, March 16: Over 70 lawyers, including Queen’s Counsels, Barristers, and solicitors, practising in England have expressed their concerns about the actions of the government of Pakistan against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

According to a press release issued here on Friday by the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights and Justice in Pakistan (LCHRJP), a petition signed by lawyers, including Cherie Booth QC at a short notice, is being sent to the president of the Pakistan Bar Council as well as to lawyers defending the Chief Justice and also to the president of Pakistan “who has removed him pending the outcome of reference to the Supreme Judicial Council”.

In the petition issued under the signature of Sibghat Kadri QC, the convenor of the LCHRJP, the lawyers have expressed solidarity with their professional colleagues in Pakistan and have emphasised the need for an impartial, politically-independent judiciary in Pakistan.

They have also expressed their solidarity and have assured the Chief Justice the support of the international community in his struggle for the rule of law. The lawyers have also demanded that the government of Pakistan should allow the Chief Justice a free, fair and public trial.

The contents of the petition reads as follows: “We are concerned about the actions of the Government of Pakistan against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

“Reports of the humiliating treatment of the Chief Justice of Pakistan are causing great international unease, and are not in the interest of the Government of Pakistan, and lower the international esteem of Pakistan.

“We totally support the struggle for the restoration of fundamental rights and for the restoration of the rule of law in Pakistan.

“We wish to show our solidarity for our professional colleagues in Pakistan, who are at the forefront of upholding the Constitution and the rights of the people of Pakistan, whose welfare and security are under threat.

“We call upon the government of Pakistan to allow the Chief Justice a fair, free and public trial.

“We also call upon the government of Pakistan to endorse the need for an impartial, politically independent judiciary, whose role is to uphold the Constitution without fear or favour.

“We would like to send a message of goodwill to the Chief Justice of Pakistan and assure him that the international legal community support the stance that he has taken in support of the Constitution, and we hope that the government will listen to their own people, and the voices of others outside Pakistan.”