November 21, 2007	Wednesday	Ziqa’ad 10, 1428

QUETTA, Nov 20: The Balochistan government on Tuesday released all lawyers except the presidents of the Balochistan Bar Association and the Balochistan High Court Bar Association.

About 30 lawyers, who had gone to the Mach central jail to receive their colleagues, held a demonstration outside the prison in protest against the continued detention of BBA president Baz Mohammad Kakar and BHCBA president Shakeel Ahmed Hadi.

Police had arrested 52 lawyers after the imposition of emergency on Nov 3.

They were detained in Quetta, Mach, Sibi and Loralai prisons.

BHCBA finance secretary Syed Nazir Agha has warned the government that if Mr Kakar and Mr Hadi were not freed by 9pm on Tuesday night, lawyers would take strong protest action on Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference at the press club, he said the government had freed 50 lawyers for boycotting court proceedings.

He said that they would not appear before lower courts till the presidents of the BBA and BHCBA were released.

Nazir Agha said that the lawyers’ struggle would continue till the lifting of emergency, reinstatement of deposed judges of the apex court and release of all lawyers, political workers and human rights activists.