QUETTA: Lawyers’ bodies in Balochistan have decided to boycott court proceedings across the province on Monday (tomorrow) to protest the Supreme Court’s recent authorisation of civilian trials in military courts, a decision they said violated the basic human rights and the Constitution.

Speaking at a joint press conference on Saturday, Muhammad Afzal Harifal, president of the Balochistan High Court Bar Association; Munir Ahmed Khan Kakar, a member of the Pakistan Bar Council; and Malik Abid Kakar, president of the Quetta Bar Association, stressed that no lawyer would appear in any court as a protest.

They said the decision in this regard was taken in a joint meeting of the lawyers’ representative bodies on Friday.

They also decided to initiate a movement against the Supreme Court’s order across the country.

The meeting also discussed issues such as the arrests of lawyers, political workers, missing persons and the Chaman sit-in, which has continued for the last two months.

The participants also decided to support the long march of the Baloch Yakjehti (Solidarity) Council.

The lawyers demanded that judges, generals and bureaucrats ensure their accountability by starting with their own institutions to restore public trust in national institutions.

The meeting also noted that an all-party conference would be convened after consulting lawyers’ communities nationwide.

The legal community leaders also hoped the caretaker government would conduct free, fair, transparent general elections on Feb 8.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2023