December 10, 2007	Monday	Ziqa'ad 29, 1428

LAHORE, Dec 9: European lawyers are set to protest for the restoration of the Pakistani Supreme Court to pre-Nov 3 status on Monday (today) following a call by The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) president to its 700,000 members across Europe, Dawn learnt here on Sunday.

The organisation hopes to stage a protest with “a significant number” of lawyers outside the Palais de Justice in Brussels, Belgium, at 8.30am, the same time at which protestors will be gathering outside the Lahore High Court. They will also host a press conference to highlight their resolutions and have called on the members to stage similar protests in their national capitals across Europe.

The action follows a resolution passed by the CCBE at its Plenary Session on November 24, at which the body decided it would “take action on International Human Rights Day on December 10 to highlight the plight of judges, lawyers and the rule of law in Pakistan following the declaration of the state of emergency there,” according to CCBE administrator, Karine Metayer.

A letter written by Colin Tyre, President of the CCBE, which he will deliver in person to Mr Khalid Saeed, Pakistani ambassador to the Europen Union on Monday (today) stated: “At a meeting in Paris on 1st December, bar leaders from around the world, including myself on behalf of the members of the CCBE, unanimously adopted a resolution calling for the restoration of the Constitution, the reinstatement of the Supreme Court and the release of lawyers, judges and other opponents of the state of emergency in Pakistan.”

Tyre added that despite the fact that Musharraf had announced that the state of emergency would be lifted on December 16, he has “seen no undertaking” regarding the release of prisoners nor the reinstatement of the former Supreme Court.

He went on: “I would ask you to pass these documents to President Musharraf, as a demonstration of how gravely the current circumstances in your country are viewed from outside. European lawyers continue to urge that the demands in our resolution should be met immediately.”

Khurram Latif Khosa, a Lahore-based advocate, told Dawn that through information given to him by contacts in Europe, he believed that hundreds “if not thousands” would participate in the demonstration, which he described as being heartening and a boon to the lawyers’ cause.